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As Orion posted earlier today, let's revisit the LDraw.org standards body
idea. [1]
Here is the draft proposal I mentioned earlier today on LUGNET. I'm posting
it here for everyone to discuss. Several weeks ago, I worked with Kevin
Clague, Larry Pieniazek, Paul Gyugyi, and Wayne Gramlich to draft this up.
Their knowledge and industry experience was invaluable to writing what we
feel is a good proposal.
This proposal assumes leadership of LDraw.org (the site, project, etc)is
based on a post made a couple years ago:
http://news.lugnet.com/cad/dev/org/ldraw/?n=1183 In theory, this is still
true. In practice, we've had many volunteers since then who have helped with
key areas of the LDraw.org project. My feelings are - we have to start
somewhere as our foundation and work from there.
Another thing to note: The "LDraw" file format is set in stone, and it is
whatever LDraw/LEdit can use. The "LDraw.org" file format is extensible, and
based upon meta-commands. The goal here is to form a direction for the
extension of the LDraw.org file format, and define future standards and formats.
The dates in this proposal are ONLY to illustrate a relative timeframe for
the different events to take place within. THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED TO SUGGEST
THESE ACTUAL DATES AS FIRM DATES FOR THESE EVENTS. If these dates don't work
for one reason or another, new ones can be decided in the future. The
important part is they suggest an order of things, and some time in-between
specific events, not the dates themselves.
This isn't an "official LDraw.org" proposal, it's a draft. The goal is to
move forward and get closer to acting on a standards committee.
I think I've disclaimed everything here...if not, I'm sure I'll find out
soon :-)
-Tim
[1] In case you're not familiar with the historical context, the original
thread which discussed this started about here
http://news.lugnet.com/cad/dev/?n=8424, as a spinoff of the call for
meta-commands.
======================================
LDraw.org Standards Committee Proposal
======================================
Draft Version 0.6
Written by: Tim Courtney
Contributors: Kevin Clague, Wayne Gramlich, Paul Gyugyi, Larry Pieniazek
April 21, 2003
Overview
========
Proposed is a Standards Committee to endorse and shape an Official LDraw.org
file format spec document, consisting of the original LDraw spec (0.2.7)
plus meta-commands developed by various LDraw-compatible LEGO CAD programs.
This group's participants will discuss, vote on, and adopt
community-developed commands as Official LDraw.org standards. The goal of
this body is to foster increased coordination and direction in our common
community effort to develop a better 3D LEGO file format. This proposal is
based on previous industry experience establishing standards bodies.
Background
==========
The LDraw community has existed as a minimally organized group of users,
programmers, and parts authors since James Jessiman's LDraw became widely
used in the mid 1990's. This community originated solely online and
continues to use the internet as it's primary medium of communication. LDraw
standards have until this point only been semi-organized as well, with
individual leaders in file format issues, but no defined processes for
format evolution. This has caused confusion among both newcomers and long
time participants, and the community recognizes the need for a group charged
with adopting official standards and publishing official documentation.
Detail
======
Responsibilities of the Standards Committee
-------------------------------------------
The LDraw.org Standards Committee (LSC) will be responsible for maintaining
semi-regular internal discussions on pending issues, the overall progress of
the LDraw file format and new or proposed developments made by different
LDraw-based software authors. Initially, this group will be responsible for
developing their own internal procedures on how to process and vote on
proposals and how to write and publish documentation. The Committee will
also be responsible for updating the greater LDraw community periodically of
progress within the group. The Standards Committee will adopt new official
standards by voting on them, and publish documentation on LDraw.org
following such a decision. The LSC will document past, current and future
LDraw File Formats.
Procedures
~~~~~~~~~~
The procedures shall be determined by the initial membership of the LSC.
Some suggested items to attend to are:
- Call for discussion on a proposal
- Call for votes on a proposal
- Drafting, reviewing, and publishing spec documents
- Procedure for filling an early vacancy of a member
- Number of votes needed to accept a proposal as a standard
- Appointing sub-committees
- Number of vacant seats in future elections (minimum shall be 5)
Voting
~~~~~~
Each member can cast one (1) vote on any issue brought up within the LSC.
Membership
~~~~~~~~~~
Membership of the LSC shall be limited to 5 people, unless LSC members vote
to create additional vacancies for a future election.
Requirements for Membership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To ensure only competent, dedicated, and active contributors become members
of the LSC, they shall have met one or more of the following requirements:
- Authored an LDraw part subsequently released in an Official LDraw.org
Parts Update
- Served as a reviewer on the Parts Tracker through at least 2 official
parts updates
- Authored a software program that is compliant with either the LDraw 0.2.7
spec or another spec published by the LSC
LSC Discussion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The LSC shall have a mailing list where only members can post to, but the
entire community can read. This allows the community to keep tabs on what is
being discussed, and discuss LSC issues in public forums such as LUGNET's
CAD.* groups. The LSC should encourage this discussion, and should draw
ideas and suggestions from non-LSC members in the community, ensuring
everyone's voice is heard. However, the LSC shall be the only group that
votes on issues and creates standards.
Annual Summary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The members of the LSC will be responsible for publishing an annual summary
to the community following elections for the next year's term. This document
must be published several weeks before elections, on the first of July of
that year. This summary shall outline the progress of the previous term,
note all versions of the spec ratified during the term, and summarize the
future goals and ideas of the current LSC members.
Determining LSC Membership
==========================
This proposal splits the issue of determining membership into two phases:
Initial Charter Term and Subsequent Terms.
Initial Charter
---------------
In order to jump-start the creation of the LSC, the LDraw.org leadership
outlined in a previous LUGNET post (alphabetical order: Jacob Sparre
Andersen, Steve Bliss, Tim Courtney, Terry Keller and advisor Larry
Pieniazek [see: http://news.lugnet.com/cad/dev/org/ldraw/?n=1183]) shall
charter the initial leadership of the LSC, consisting of one chairperson and
one secretary.
The LDraw.org leadership will also establish a system for "LDraw.org
Membership" in order to create a legitimate group of voters. This membership
will be open to anyone who wants to declare themselves a member, provided
they own a valid email address. Information on this membership system will
be posted to LDraw.org and LUGNET. This membership will have the opportunity
to ratify future referendums as the LDraw.org leadership proposes them.
The two individuals installed as chairperson and secretary of the initial
LSC will be responsible for coordinating discussion and ratifying LDraw.org
spec 1.0.0 among the entire community, either publicly (on LUGNET) or on an
opt-in mailing list. This spec includes the original LDraw spec (0.2.7) as
well as a chosen subset of all known meta-commands to date. This document
shall be put to a vote for ratification no later than June 31, 2003, and
published on LDraw.org no later than July 15, 2003.
The LDraw 0.2.7 document consists of only the original commands for LDraw.
The LDraw.org 1.0.0 document is negotiable. After public discussion of
LDraw.org 1.0.0 has run its due course, or on June 31, 2003 (whichever comes
sooner), the chairperson will issue a call for votes and the community will
vote to ratify the LDraw.org 1.0.0 document. LDraw.org Members will be
eligible to vote to ratify the document if they themselves meet the
requirements for membership in the LSC.
When the LDraw.org 1.0.0 spec document is ratified, the secretary will
compile and publish the document on LDraw.org. At this time, guidelines for
electing LSC members in Subsequent Terms will go into effect. The
chairperson will lead discussion on issues until the first elected members
take office.
Subsequent Terms
----------------
Terms on the Standards Committee shall last one year.
The LDraw.org leadership will issue the first call for nominations to the
Standards Committee on July 1, 2003. Each subsequent call for nominations
will be issued on the first day of July of that year. Nominations must be
received and recorded by the 15th of July. Elections will be held on the
20th of July.
Elections
~~~~~~~~~
The LDraw.org Members eligible for LSC membership will vote on the nominees
by privately listing the five (5) nominees they select for the position.
Votes will be received and tallied by the LDraw.org leadership, who will be
accountable to each other for accuracy. The 1st LSC will consist of no more
than 5 people, however the LSC will be able to create vacant seats to be
filled at a future election if they wish.
LDraw.org leadership will announce the results of the election within 5 days
of the election, on or before July 25.
Inauguration
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elected members of the LSC will take office on August 15. This gives
downtime between elections on July 20th for outgoing members and incoming
members to discuss the published Annual Report and ensure a smooth transition.
Key Dates
=========
Initial Charter
---------------
June 31, 2003 - Call for votes to ratify LDraw.org 1.0.0
July 1, 2003 - Call for nominations for 1st LSC
July 15, 2003 - LDraw.org 1.0.0 published
July 20, 2003 - 1st LSC Elections
August 15, 2003 - 1st LSC Members take office
Recurring Dates
---------------
July 1 - Annual Summary published
- Call for nominations to the LSC
July 15 - All nominations must be received and recorded
July 20 - LSC Elections
On or before July 25 - LDraw.org Leadership announces election results
August 15 - New LSC Members take office
Glossary
========
LDraw.org Leadership
--------------------
Jacob Sparre Andersen, Steve Bliss, Tim Courtney, Terry Keller, and
Community Advisor Larry Pieniazek. This group is responsible for forming a
charter organzation for LDraw.org, administrating the website, Parts
Tracker, and server.
LDraw.org Membership
--------------------
Defined, opt-in group of LDraw community participants who will have the
right to vote on resolutions put forward by the LDraw.org Leadership.
LDraw.org Standards Committee (LSC)
-----------------------------------
Group of 5 parts authors, Parts Tracker reviewers, or LDraw-compatible
software authors elected by peers within the LDraw.org Membership to ratify
and publish the Official LDraw.org File Format Spec.
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