(j3.2006) INCITS mischief

[Bill Long]

We're not really "J3" anymore, so the j3 at j3-fortran.org mail list is not 
the official one, but rather some public service by a group of civic 
minded folks that happens to include many of the tc22.3 members, along 
with others.  Sort of like the Fortran 90 mail list.  It would seem they 
would not complain about that.  We can use the official email list for 
meeting notices and distributing the minutes, and the j3 mail list for 
discussion.

Cheers,
Bill


Dan Nagle wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I just returned from the tri-annual potty training
> at INCITS, and there's some news.
>
> As of some future Doomsday, J3 can no longer have its own
> web site.  We must use INCITS.  They will automagically
> assign paper numbers, provide archive services, and so on.
> (I raised enough of a stink so J3 will be one of the last
> committees to be assimilated.)  Whether they understand
> the differences between standing docs and regular docs
> is unclear.  The protocols used to access the INCITS server
> are not yet specified (at least, to me).  Whether and how
> they will enforce J3's paper format rules is unclear.
>
> How this affects the server during a meeting is unclear,
> but I felt ducking and pleading ignorance later was better
> than asking now.
>
> How this affects the mailing lists is unclear.  I think
> INCITS intends to maintain the lists, with strict enforcement
> of membership rules.  How this affects the mailing list archives
> is unclear.  What this does to J3's INCITS archive (the Black Hole
> where I forward INCITS spam prior to deleting it from my computer)
> is unclear.
>
> The committee membership will be maintained by INCITS
> on this new INCITS server.  A user id and password
> will be required to access anything considered private.  INCITS
> will decide what's public and what isn't (don't worry,
> they have rules).
>
> Minutes must be submitted to INCITS for approval within 30 days
> of a meeting's end date and prior to being circulated to members,
> even attendees.
>
> Notices of membership jeopardy must be numbered committee
> papers and must be included in the agenda of the upcoming
> meeting (implying 30 day's notice).
>
> INCITS "recommends" that we maintain daily sign-in papers
> during multi-day meetings.  But there appears to be an escape hatch
> whereby we can develop our own rules for our own circumstances.
> Attendees can probably still order their own doughnuts.
>
> In order to have a Friends of J3 list, we must specifically
> vote on it at a meeting.  I think INCITS uses the term "friends"
> differently than J3.  ;-)  But I didn't mention it because
> J3's kind of friend may be illegal in the new scheme.
>
> There's a new specific format for votes on ISO matters.
> Failure to use the new format means our vote will not count
> (and we'll be listed as "not voting").  This one is Van's headache,
> not mine.  :-)
>
> I view all this as the result of insufficient adult supervision.
>
>   

-- 
Bill Long                                   longb at cray.com
Fortran Technical Support    &              voice: 651-605-9024
Bioinformatics Software Development         fax:   651-605-9142
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