Re: Role of the TAG Re: polyglot…blabla…open web…blabla…

On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 7:10 PM, Charles McCathie Nevile <
chaals@yandex-team.ru> wrote:

> On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 02:50:28 +0100, Alex Russell <slightlyoff@google.com>
>
>> On Jan 25, 2013 7:36 PM, "David Sheets" <kosmo.zb@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 2:11 PM, Alex Russell <slightlyoff@google.com>
>>> > On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 4:16 PM, David Sheets <kosmo.zb@gmail.com> >>
>>> On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Alex Russell >> > On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at
>>> 11:46 PM, David Sheets <kosmo.zb@gmail.com>
>>> >> >> On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 4:44 PM, Alex Russell >> >> > On Thu, Jan
>>> 24, 2013 at 6:29 PM, David Sheets >> >> >> On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 2:14 PM,
>>> Alex Russell
>>>
>>
>
>  >> > On the open web (where I expect that the
>>> >> > contract about what is and isn't XML are even more important), or
>>> >> > inside closed systems and organizations?
>>>
>>
>  >> When you publicly publish something and declare your intent, you are
>>> >> on the "open web".
>>>
>>
>  > I think you'll struggle to get most W3C members to accept that >
>>> definition.
>>>
>>
> I don't think so. I think there are many W3C members who are using Web
> technology in closed environments as well as the open web, consider that
> an important use case for the web, and believe that it is the TAG's role
> to support this use case in their work. I suspect that this covers a large
> majority of W3C members.
>

I think it is important to distinguish the public mission of the W3C, which
is to "lead the [world wide] web to its full potential" (where I think
"world wide" is understood by everyone to imply "open"), from what its
members want. The two are not necessarily aligned. E.g. I think many
members would (reasonably) like to have a closed web that they own, or
opportunities to create exclusive cartels. The W3C's public mission and
member interests will always be in tension.

As for the TAG, I think its loyalties need to be aligned with W3C's mission
and the public goal to keep the web connected and markets open; not
primarily with member needs. If W3C helps create competitive markets by
enabling interoperability, that's a good thing, just as standardizing the
composition of steel in the auto industry was in the early 20th century.
But doing so is a means to a greater public good. This is what makes the
W3C different from other standards bodies such as NISO or SAE.

Jonathan