ISSUE-10: The Web, The Universe, and Everything

Sorry for the lateness; I fear that this e-mail will take another
while to make it from my laptop to the list.

Rename 4.1 to "Web Interactions" and rewrite as follows:

  User interactions on the Web [WEBARCH], using the HTTP and HTTPS
  protocols, are at the core of the Working Group's scope.  Where
  Web interactions involve other application-level protocols
  (including, e.g., SOAP or FTP), the Working Group considers these
  in its scope and will aim that its recommendations be applicable;
  however, the Working Group does not consider recommendations that
  are specific to such protocols as a Goal.

4.2, "user agents"

  Strike the sentence "The Web browser commonly found on desktop
  computers...", and replace by this:  "Any user agent that is used
  in a Web interaction is in scope; the range of such agents
  includes widely deployed web browsers, rich clients, and the web
  browsers found on mobile phones and other constrained devices."
  
  (I'd like to put the emphasis on the universality and the
  interactions, and only then enumerate examples.)
  
Add an introductory paragraph to "out of scope":

  This section to enumerate a number of possible work items that the
  Working Group will not consider.
  
Change 5.1 to "Protocols":

  The Working Group considers recommendations for lower level
  protocols (such as SS7, ISDN, or NANP) out of scope.  

(Can we spell out what NANP is?  Being offline, I can't find what it
even is.)

Change 5.2 to "non-Web interactions":

  The Working Group considers recommendations specific to
  interactions that do not involve the Web (e.g., rich text display
  in an e-mail user agent) out of its scope.  However, where such
  interactions use Web Technologies, recommendations may turn out to
  be applicable.

Rationale: When a rich mail client displays an HTML message and
effectively creates a web browser user experience, what we do might
very well be applicable, and it might make sense to claim that the
behavior of such an agent conforms to our recommendations.

Change 5.3 to "Security context information for consumption by
automated agents":

  The Working Group will only consider Web interactions that include
  a human user.  Situations in which all security relevant
  information is consumed and acted upon my automated agents are out
  of scope.

Add the following to section 3 (non-goals); before section 3.1. Note
that this is just my understanding of what is meant by "non-goals";
I'd ask (in particular) Hal to review this.

  This section outlines a range of work items which the group will
  not focus on, but which may be covered as beneficial side effects
  of the group's work.  Work items listed here won't be a priority,
  and the group won't expend collective resources on tackling them.
  
I'm somewhat unhappy with the title of 3.1, but can't think of a
much better one right now.  Maybe add an editor's note that this
will be renamed later.  (Note that the text is fine.)

Add 3.2, "Non-HTTP Web interactions"

  Recommendations that this group makes may or may not be relevant
  to Web related interactions that use protocols other than HTTP or
  HTTPS.  While the group will aim for its recommendations to be
  generically useful -- where appropriate --, it considers
  recommendations specific to other protocols as a Non-Goal.

Regards,
-- 
Thomas Roessler, W3C  <tlr@w3.org>

Received on Friday, 16 February 2007 21:09:13 UTC