IPP Mail Archive: RE: IPP> MOD - Tentative decision on natural language overri

RE: IPP> MOD - Tentative decision on natural language overri

Hugo Parra (HPARRA@novell.com)
Fri, 06 Nov 1998 11:45:59 -0700

The vote in Savanah was restricted to accepting changes to the spec that =
clarified the text without breaking interoperability with the June 30th =
spec. The only reason we tried to stay interoperable with the June 30th =
docs is to upheld the premature vote we took in Monterrey. Novell would =
have voted to fix the spec even if it meant breaking the June 30th spec =
but that wasn't even an option (nor was anyone willing to consider it).

Should there be a formal process to override a former vote? It exists in =
other voting entities. I'm not sure am 100% in favor of it.

-Hugo

>>> Paul Moore <paulmo@microsoft.com> 11/06/98 11:35AM >>>
Hindsight is a wonderful thing (BTW it was Savanahh not Monterey where we
finally really voted on the spec). We all had a vote, including Novell.
Several people said - whoa, we havent tested localization, we havent =
tested
security. Despite that the vote was unanimous (one abstention that was =
later
change to yes). People have taken product decisions based on that vote.

What are you proposing - that the formally defined and agreed PWG voting
process is not really binding and that we can all change our mind later. =
It
may or may not have been a good result - but it was the result.

We could have another vote undoing the previous one. Why not put that
forward as a motion in Tuscon.=20

-----Original Message-----
From: Hugo Parra [mailto:HPARRA@novell.com]=20
Sent: Friday, November 06, 1998 10:09 AM
To: ipp@pwg.org; harryl@us.ibm.com=20
Cc: stuart.rowley@kyocera.com=20
Subject: Re: IPP> MOD - Tentative decision on natural language overri

I second what Harry and Stuart wrote. In retrospect, I can't believe the
group voted to upheld the June 30th spec before we carried out any formal
interoperability testing of the spec. Why did the PWG gave its stamp of
approval without formal proof that two independently-developed
implementations interoperated in all areas. I believe, the hours and =
hours
of discussion trying to clarify what the spec means by language override
disqualifies our implementations as "independent". If, despite our poor
decision in Monterrey, we still want to stick with the June 30th spec, so =
be
it; but we should make formal interoperability testing part of the PWG
process so history doesn't repeat itself.

-Hugo

>>> Harry Lewis <harryl@us.ibm.com> 11/06/98 10:39AM >>>
Stuart, you echo my sentiments exactly. I have tried, on the wire and in =
the
calls to bring the focus back to Carl's original (and much simpler)
observations. (See http://www.pwg.org/hypermail/ipp/1490.html). I think =
the
problem is that some implementations are already using some of the
(difficult
to understand) "features" in striving for conformance to the June 30
drafts.
It's just unfortunate that we were not able to focus sooner on the problem
which was surfaced in May. I believe Tom tried to bend Carl's proposal =
into
the
reality of the situation... looking for a compromise solution. I agree.. =
it
looks that much more complicated in this context.

It is fairly well agreed there is not much we can do with respect to =
Servers
(Printers?), at this point but some hope may still lay in the Clients. If =
we
can restrict client behavior (say, to always use textWithLanguage) it =
might
govern server response (to, similarly, always use textWithLanguage)...
nearly
achieving Carl's proposal. But, some Servers already have decided to make
use
of textWithoutLanguage in situations where Languages on the request and
response are identical (a common sense implementation given the absence of =
a
rule like Carl was proposing... "always use textWithLanguage").

So, we feel pretty boxed in. I agree, however, any reasoning discussed on
the
call should be echoed on the DL for all to understand.

Harry Lewis - IBM Printing Systems
harryl@us.ibm.com=20

owner-ipp@pwg.org on 11/05/98 10:07:44 PM
Please respond to owner-ipp@pwg.org=20
To: hastings@cp10.es.xerox.com, ipp@pwg.org=20
cc:
Subject: Re: IPP> MOD - Tentative decision on natural language overri

Apparently the participants in the telecon and those "voting" on the
mailing list are completely different groups of individuals! Except for =
Bob
Herriott, no one expressed any con arguments for NLO 4 of 4. I only saw =
yes
"votes" (about 10 or 15 of them). So why the telcon decision of No. There
is not even any reasons given why this decision was reached. Where is the
discussion on the mailing list?

This type of mass back on forth makes me wonder how many really have a
clear understanding of these NLO issues (not that I do). Nearly everyone
has expressed that the current mechanisms are overkill and very hard to
understand.

I think the only really clearly articulated discussion of this on the
mailing list has been Carl Kugler's emails. On Oct 9 Carl sent the
following email titled IPP> Re: MOD OLD NEW Issue: Contradictory NLO req.
This email suggests a very clear and to me appropriate solution. I never
saw on the list anyone state why not to accept Carl's proposal. After this
email, we received the issue broken into several inter-related issues by
Tom (which I read over and over and over, trying to understand).

I would now challenge those in the telecon who decided to keep name/text
withoutLanguage to re-read Carl's email (below) and state in what ways his
proposal is flawed. Until someone can adequately shoot down this clear
proposal of Carl's, then his proposal is what I am in favor of.

Thanks,

Stuart

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stuart Rowley Kyocera Technology Development, Inc