Re: [DotGNU] The ECMA working group process

[Fergus Henderson]

On 08-Feb-2004, Rhys Weatherley <address@hidden> wrote:
> On Saturday 07 February 2004 11:36 pm, Fergus Henderson wrote:
> 
> > Have you asked about joining as an individual, or as a representative of
> > GNU (i.e. the FSF, which is a non-profit organization)?
> 
> It wouldn't help with the "you must attend face to face meetings in the US" 
> question.

That's true.  But one step at a time.

Becoming a member of ECMA and the C#/CLR working group(s) would presumably
mean that you could have access to working drafts and other committee
documents.  That would be a concrete and significant step.

> Joining the ECMA does not guarantee membership in a working group: 
> you must be separately invited.

I think you should get invited to join the working group if you ask.
If you don't, then there may be ways of dealing with that :)

> Besides, if GNU is going to join, it needs 
> to be wider than just those interested in C#, with more than just I.  The 
> same group also deals with ECMAScript and C++ issues.  We'd need dozens of 
> GNU participants, and right now getting one in the door is difficult.

It's not necessary to have dozens of GNU participants, or to deal with
every different ECMA working group.  That might perhaps come in time,
but everything has to start somewhere.

Right now, as far as I can tell you don't really have compelling grounds
to object to ECMA's behaviour.  If you ask for membership in ECMA as an
individual or as a representative of the FSF, and it is refused, _then_
you will have something legitimate to complain about.  If you become a
member of ECMA and you ask to join a particular working group and they
refuse, _then_ you will have something legitimate to complain about.
If you become a member of ECMA and a member of the appropriate working
group and they still won't give you access to the latest drafts, _then_
you will have something legitimate to complain about.  But right now
all you've got is that they won't share their documents with someone
who is not a member, and that they work by in-person meetings and
haven't offered to pay your travel expenses.  Neither of those seems
especially unreasonable.

-- 
Fergus Henderson <address@hidden>  |  "I have always known that the pursuit
The University of Melbourne         |  of excellence is a lethal habit"
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh>  |     -- the last words of T. S. Garp.