Re: Proposition to change the prefixing policy

I've been avoiding this thread while I was on vacation, but I finally
read through it.

I agree with the thrust of Florian's suggestion - we should be finding
some earlier point to unprefix.  I also agree with some of the
criticisms - *starting* with an unprefixed version is too early, and
negates much of the benefit of using prefixes to cordon off
experimental usage.

Florian later suggested unprefixing at some point in the WD cycle,
when the WG agrees to it.  Maciej proposed that we unprefix when we
have two roughly-interoperable implementations.  Both of these are
approximately where I want to see this land, but both suffer from some
ambiguity that I don't think is necessary.

Tantek's proposal, which he brought to the group late in the last
Paris FtF, hits approximately the same sweet spot but with less
ambiguity - it's nearly a mechanical process.  As a reminder, his
proposal is that, at the moment anyone can prove two interop
implementations of a feature with a WG-approved testsuite, we cut that
feature into an LC->CR draft.  In effect, we have a constantly-moving
ED, with snapshots of testably-interop features calved off as
necessary.

This is approximately what our process is *already* supposed to be,
but we never actually get very close to this because we're reluctant
to split apart specs or put "small" specs through the LC process.
Tantek's proposal just cuts away our excuses and makes it an
imperative.

I think that Florian's proposal matches what a lot of us want to see,
and that Tantek's proposal accomplishes Florian's goals with the least
ambiguity (and thus greatest chance of success) of all the variants
I've heard so far.  We should adopt it.

~TJ

Received on Sunday, 6 May 2012 13:22:10 UTC