Re: Total confusion in RSS-Land

[Aaron Swartz <aswartz@swartzfam.com>]

Mark Nottingham <mnot@mnot.net> wrote:

> I'm curious; why don't you want to see RSS go into a WG?

I don't see the W3C's style of development as being conducive to the work
we're doing with RSS. First, the W3C requires/recommends a significant time
contribution to a working group, I've heard on the order of 20%. While many
of us seem to spend a lot of time on RSS ;-), I personally can't promise the
dedication of that amount of time.

Second, I'm not a W3C Member, and I don't have the money to join. I believe
many others in the RSS-DEV group are in a similar situation. We would all
have to become Invited Experts, which may not be too difficult, but adds
complexity to the process and increases the barrier for those who want to
contribute. This becomes a significant problem if we want to encourage
average Web developers to assist with the spec -- we _want_ their help,
charging them lots of money, or making them jump through hoops is not a good
way to show appreciation.

Third, I think the W3C bureaucracy is too overbearing. Rael has tried hard
to create a system of procedures that is helpful, but doesn't get in the way
of work. The complexity added in by the W3C process (IMO) is inappropriate
for the work we're doing.

Does this make sense?

-- 
Aaron Swartz | me@aaronsw.com | http://www.aaronsw.com