W3C

– DRAFT –
Revising W3C Process Community Group

12 May 2021

Attendees

Present
cwilso, dsinger, florian, jeff, jrosewell, plh, TallTed, wseltzer
Regrets
-
Chair
dsinger
Scribe
fantasai, jeff_

Meeting minutes

Agenda

dsinger: Goal for today is to determine what P2021 Final Cleanup is

dsinger: to be Final Cleanup it needs to be wordsmithing

dsinger: florian, fantasai, and I did some triage

dsinger: Any changes to agenda?

Registries

dsinger: Update from PSIG?

wseltzer: PSIG wanted to get greater clarity about keeping normative requirements out of the registry definitions

wseltzer: Anything that expresses normative requirements should be in a REC-track document

<cwilso> strong +1

wseltzer: or in another document linked from the registry tables

wseltzer: If we can give them that clarity, or help craft such language, then I think we can present that to PSIG

florian: This is something where we need clarity, but there is text in the spec already

florian: It feels they considered the problem in the abstract, but did they review the text

dsinger: We should write an email with the text to PSIG and if they don't like that text they can respond to that email

dsinger: Anything else from PSIG?

wseltzer: No I don't think so

Editor Update

dsinger: Anything from editors?

florian: Nope, just need to triage into close / needs fiddling / defer

dsinger: I don't see anything not on the agenda that needs to be raised, anyone else?

Agenda+ to Close

dsinger: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/322

dsinger: Believe handled by work on tooling, objections to closing?

Resolution: Close 322

dsinger: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/236

dsinger: Addressed by split of NOTE and REC track, any objections to close?

Resolution: Close 236

dsinger: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/351

plh: So in the future, the answer to 236 will be yes?

florian: yes

florian: For 351, Jeff wants to close the issue after P2021 goes into effect, but it's been addressed in the draft

dsinger: this is confusing, would prefer to close

Resolution: Close 351

dsinger: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/38

dsinger: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/63

dsinger: Solved by https://github.com/w3c/w3process/pull/526

wseltzer: LGTM

dsinger: PR looks straightforward

[re-review of 351 now that Jeff has sound]

jeff_: Closing 351 WFM

dsinger: 526 PR, any objections?

Resolution: Accept PR 526, closing 38 and 63

Pull Requests

florian: Let's not look at "reorganize the document" first

florian: Should maybe look at 519 or ...

<wseltzer> LGTM

<wseltzer> https://github.com/w3c/w3process/pull/519

Issue 338 Where Decisions Can Be Made

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/338

florian: I think most of this has already been addressed through Tooling section and Minutes section etc.

florian: But there was a leftover sentence saying that decisions can be made in person or in email, period.

florian: So this PR just generalizes from email so we can do that in e.g. GH

dsinger: sgtm, any comments?

jeff_: Sounds very clean and elegant

Resolution: Accept PR 519 and close 338

Alternate AC Rep

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/505

<wseltzer> +1

florian: wseltzer wrote a PR, people seem to be happy

dsinger: [reads the new sentence]

<plh> +1

dsinger: I think it's great.

<cwilso> +1

dsinger: wseltzer gave us the details of how that's expected to work in the issue

Resolution: Accept PR 505 and close issue 338

jeff_: wseltzer, you had asked questions that are in 505

jeff_: dsinger and I commented, anything further you need for the questions?

wseltzer: Thanks, I think we're good with the proposed implementation

wseltzer: those details don't go into the Process

wseltzer: So I think we can close the issue, and if people want a distinct issue for the implementation, I'll put it in the Guide and discuss over there

florian: Also mostly seems fine, so not sure there's an open issue

dsinger: Leave it in the hands of the Team to redirect discussion as needed

Rewrite the Intro

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/423

florian: dsinger proposed a rewrite of the intro on the ML awhile ago

florian: This PR does that

florian: This is a smaller part of the general reorg of the document, but isolate part of it

florian: This is a medium-size editorial change

florian: fantasai and I made some tweaks, but it's largely what dsinger wrote

dsinger: My thought was to give an introduction of "what does this document do" and "how do you navigate it", a type of roadmap

florian: I think the three of us think it's good, question is if anyone else has concerns

dsinger: ...

florian: The reorg changes the order of sections, but not really the content of the sections

florian: so reorg doesn't affect intro

jeff_: I started to read, and in the first sentence I see the word "fairness"

jeff_: which at a human level I understand it

jeff_: but saw some discussion about US Congress proposals where it was causing some consternation...

dsinger: Interesting point, but that phrase is surviving from existing intro

jeff_: OK, I guess it's good by definition :)

florian: At least, we are not making things worse :)

dsinger: Would welcome PRs to modernize further, but the goal here was to reorganize

[review of what's changed vs not changed in the intro]

florian: If we leave this meeting with only this PR and the reorg pending, we're in good shape

dsinger: Jeff, do you want me to leave this open one more cycle?

jeff_: ...

dsinger: OK, I'm ok to leave this open for more review

dsinger: Does open the question of further improvements to intro also

Agenda+ Issues

dsinger: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues?q=is%3Aopen+label%3AAgenda%2B+type%3Aissue

florian: Some are closed just now

dsinger: Here we can either decide to act, or defer another cycle, or mark final cleanup

"Reference Draft" and "Other Charter"

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/114

dsinger: Proposal is to update the labels here

dsinger: Other Charter -> Previous Charter

fantasai: +1 to Previosu Charter

florian: +1

<wseltzer> +1

fantasai: Actually, is the Other Charter the Adopted Working Draft charter or the Reference Draft Charter?

plh: Reference Draft's charter

fantasai: Then use term "Reference Charter" because there could be a charter in between

jeff_: This was asked for by PSIG, should we run it by PSIG?

dsinger: I doubt there's a problem, wseltzer could you just inform PSIG and come back if that happens to be a problem?

Action: wseltzer: Alert PSIG about name change

Resolution: Rename Other Charter to Reference Charter

Suspension/Removal for Cause

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/312

PR in https://github.com/w3c/w3process/pull/528

florian: We had two parallel threads discussing this section

florian: For multiple reasons we wanted to rework

florian: one thread landed a long time ago

florian: so I got confused a bit about what happened

florian: This PR incorporates some of the suggestions in this thread

dsinger: We had text in DF that improves this generally, and this is pulling back that general improvement?

florian: We reached consensus awhile back, and but didn't make edits

dsinger: Any thoughts on 528?

Resolution: Accept PR 528 and close issue 312

Streamlining Horizontal Reviews

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/347

florian: We closed PR because we're pursuing in Guide

florian: Idk if closing or deferring, but not doing it this cycle either way

florian: but maybe closing makes sense, since we closed the PR?

dsinger: Huge discussion

florian: We never came up with something everyone was happy with, and eventually gave up

[ This is more or less handled in https://www.w3.org/Guide/documentreview/ ]

dsinger: I'd like to close

dsinger: in favor of documenting practice in /Guide

Resolution: Close 347

Rename "Candidate Recommendation"

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/402

dsinger: This is a term of art. I think disruption by renaming is worse than any clarity we can gain here

florian: agreed

Resolution: Close 402 no change

Abandoning a Note

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/501

[scribe loses track of conversation]

[but basically ppl are agreeing with each other based on comments Florian posted]

Resolution: Close #501 no change

github: none

Naming W3C Statements

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/508

florian: When we opened the issue, we weren't entirely sure about name, so opened issue to track separately

florian: but I think we're good, close no change

plh: I've started talking about this, and nobody has complained about the name. Seems it's a good name.

Resolution: Close #508 no change (keep name Statements)

Draft/Candidate Registries

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/516

plh: We have Draft/Snapshot for recommendation

plh: equivalents with Registry isn't as straightforward

plh: could decide to make no change, just want to make sure we're aware of those things

florian: Draft appears in "Working Draft" , "Draft Note", and "Candidate XXX Draft"

dsinger: Should we leave this to editors and plh?

Resolution: Close 516 no change

<dsinger> Last AC review https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues?q=is%3Aopen+label%3AAC-review+type%3Aissue+-label%3AAgenda%2B

AC Review Review

dsinger: These came up in previous reviews of the Process

dsinger: Anything we should address?

florian: I think we should close 1st item

Renaming CR / removing REC

florian: We're not going to do that

dsinger: We've got such strong branding around our names, we should close this

Resolution: Close #446

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/446

Reaching Recommendation

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/443

jeff_: I'm starting to see this problem, lots of confusion

[some discussion]

Resolution: Defer to next year

Increasing voter turnout in AC reviews

github: https://github.com/w3c/w3process/issues/410

wseltzer: I suggest closing based on AB discussion of the 5% review threshold

dsinger: So deferring to practice / guidelines / AB, no Process change?

wseltzer: SGTM

<Zakim> wseltzer, you wanted to discuss close 410

Voting

jeff_: Propose to cwilso to close this issue

jeff_: we're doing his experiment, so maybe we can fix the Process

cwilso: I defer to Michael Champion on this one

dsinger: I don't think it's going to make any difference in what we do

dsinger: propose that Editors are instructed to remove the sentence and close issue 60

cwilso: I'll note that Michael is not on this call and probably didn't expect it to be taken up today

jeff_: We should surely reach out to him and explain

fantasai: This is more than 2min, let's move on

dsinger: Let's mark for P2021 and then come back to it next week

florian: That's it for this list

2021 Milestone

dsinger: Quite a few issues on this list

florian: we closed a bunch

florian: 1st three are addressed by combo of intro rewrite and the reorg

florian: Guidance isn't a Process question

dsinger: defining "independent" is a thorny problem we won't solve quickly

dsinger: substantive changes for Charter reviews is ...

florian: I would like to address this issue, don't believe we can do it easily

wseltzer: I do not disagree

florian: Main reason is that wseltzer and I strongly disagree on this isssue, so unless want to observe us fighting can't fix now :)

jeff_: 337?

florian: It's not exactly incorrect, but we're rewriting for DF

florian: so highlighting a process that's about to change doesn't seem constructive to me

dsinger: Seems not a candidate for 2021

dsinger: so leave it open

Reorganizing the Process Document

dsinger: document grown over time, not well organized

dsinger: My suggestion was to reorganize as [summary]

dsinger: Intention is that we do not make any substantive change, just reorganize to make easier to fine

dsinger: big downside is that a diff using HTML diff service is... everything is different

florian: This isn't that bad, actually. In terms of preparing for the AC

florian: I will make two diffs, one of everything except reorg

florian: and one is just the reorg

florian: So if people trust that editorial is editorial, they can check the rest

jeff_: I want to applaud you and editors for working on this

jeff_: Most changes to Process are local

jeff_: I can review easily

jeff_: When we do this kind of document restructure, even if intended to be editorial

jeff_: and time needed to look at here is with/without restructure

jeff_: even if I trust everyone, need to verify truly editorial

jeff_: So I think we need to go ahead with doing it

jeff_: but want to make sure we have a disciplined way to review both all the changes

jeff_: and separately the restructure

jeff_: Don't want people to not review closely

dsinger: Florian's proposal is to be able to describe substantive changes as a diff, and then apply this as a final reorg

florian: I wouldn't do two branches, but like for P2020

florian: would have two diffs

florian: That I can do

jeff_: Need docment to stabilize, then review

florian: My suggestion is for me to fold in all the changes, and then rebase the reorg on top of that

florian: and then I suggest we in parallel start the W3M/AB reviews and the review of the reorg

florian: Yes, reorg needs to be reviewed, but it's a different type of change

Florian: reorg will be ready in a few days

David: I just need to know if we will do the reorg this year?

david: then we will work out details

david: Objections?

david: I see no objections

David: In the next meeting we will have the two documents from the editor
… all the changes without the reorg
… separately the reorg
… we will look for formal consensus to send it forward to W3M and AB
… A phenomenal morning

Fantasai: When we send out these documents
… can we send the CfC for the process doc for the AB and W3M
… so we are not waiting for the next meeting

David: I will do so.

fantasai: can W3M start review when we send out the CFC?

jeff_: Yes, we can do that

fantasai: Can we get immediate attention from W3M

Jeff: Definitely

Wendy: I'll clear off with PSIG on registries

David: I need to work with Florian and Wendy to get the PSIG questions in the document

David: Light at the end of the tunnel

[adjourned]

Summary of action items

  1. wseltzer: Alert PSIG about name change

Summary of resolutions

  1. Close 322
  2. Close 236
  3. Close 351
  4. Accept PR 526, closing 38 and 63
  5. Accept PR 519 and close 338
  6. Accept PR 505 and close issue 338
  7. Rename Other Charter to Reference Charter
  8. Accept PR 528 and close issue 312
  9. Close 347
  10. Close 402 no change
  11. Close #501 no change
  12. Close #508 no change (keep name Statements)
  13. Close 516 no change
  14. Close #446
  15. Defer to next year
Minutes manually created (not a transcript), formatted by scribe.perl version 131 (Sat Apr 24 15:23:43 2021 UTC).

Diagnostics

Succeeded: i/dsinger: Goal/Topic: Agenda

Succeeded: s/Rewrite the Introduction/Alternate AC Rep/

Succeeded: s/?/plh/

Succeeded: i/florian: We're/subtopic: Renaming CR / removing REC

Succeeded: i/Florian/scribe+ jeff_

Maybe present: David, fantasai, jeff_, Wendy