Subject:
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Re: LDraw Versioning (Was Re: Backwards Compatibility)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.dev
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Date:
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Mon, 17 Mar 2003 03:49:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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1879 times
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This thread has grown so much since Friday it's hard to know exactly where
to interject.... so I just picked a spot. I'll have more to say later after
reading the thread again but wanted to throw a few comments out.
In lugnet.cad.dev, Wayne Gramlich writes:
> There are gazillions of file formats out there and most of them
> have had to undergo some amount format evolution. Format evolution
> is a healthy and common situation.
YES! Exactly. And one could argue that for historical reasons (which are
what they are, and are good and valid ones) it's way over due in this case.
> A common first step towards evolving a file format is to introduce
> a version number into the specification.
I think this is a great first step if it can be agreed to and made to work.
Here are my general thoughts...
LDraw needs a standards body. Not to dictate or prevent but to guide and
help grow. That much seems clear to me at this point and I suspect most
others agree. In my view that standards body ought to have representatives
on it from all key stakeholder "factions"... the tool authors, the tool
users, the parts authors, the parts users, and representation from the
community as a whole as well. (Yes, tool users and parts users are
overlapping but they are not equivalent, in my view)
We've seen two public volunteers to be on the standards committee (Orion and
Kevin), and I'd like to add my name to that list. I'd be bringing the
viewpoint of the tool user and parts user with a smattering of parts author,
to the table, and dare I say it, perhaps a bit of the feel for the larger
community wide issues that I feel are vital to take into account as well...
Discussion on LUGNET is good and proper and very useful, especially for
highlighting issues and brainstorming, but sometimes you need to have a
committee go off and do things, whatever they might be, that the community
seems to have come to consensus on, and then report back with results or
findings and seek approval. Else you can go round in circles. A committee of
the whole rarely gets things done unless it's lucky.
That standards body ought to be part of a larger organization in my view.
Again, not to dictate or prevent but to help LDraw as a whole progress.
I don't know if a standards body is the place to start or if the overall
organization is, I'm not sure. You can argue either way.
There has been some attempts already at the overall org and some progress
was made but it's not there yet. The problem with a standards body that has
no org behind it is in how it can gain traction. Consensus among all
stakeholders is hard to check for if there is no formality whatever, no
process to ensure inclusion, no mechanism for tallying views.
So I'd like to see the larger organization work moved forward as well. There
were a few folks working on this in the past. Maybe it's time they spoke up
and gave somewhat of a progress report and got things started again, this
time with a new vigor to get things all the way to the point where they are
ready to present for consensus. I imagine that a fair bit has changed since
the last burst of activity on this. (and a fair bit hasn't)
++Lar
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: LDraw Versioning (Was Re: Backwards Compatibility)
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| (...) I think you picked a great spot to come in at. (...) Yep: format evolution = good. (...) Good idea. I'd also like to add that such a standards body should be relatively few in number. Not to be exclusionary, but to maintain focus. The number 7 (...) (22 years ago, 17-Mar-03, to lugnet.cad.dev)
| | | Re: LDraw Versioning (Was Re: Backwards Compatibility)
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| Ok, picking up where I left off with the previous post. (...) The group charged with working on this was Steve Bliss, Jacob Sparre Andersen, Terry Keller, Larry Pieniazek, and myself. There hasn't been much activity among the four of us as of late, (...) (22 years ago, 17-Mar-03, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | LDraw Versioning (Was Re: Backwards Compatibility)
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| (...) All: There are gazillions of file formats out there and most of them have had to undergo some amount format evolution. Format evolution is a healthy and common situation. A common first step towards evolving a file format is to introduce a (...) (22 years ago, 16-Mar-03, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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