[sc34wg3] www.topicmaps.com (and topicmaps.org)

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:08:21 +0200

* Bernard
|
| I'm as amazed as Murray is that one would want to drop this
| legacy altogether.

Whoa, hold on, don't panic, everyone!

I'm not suggesting we zap our own history or rewrite it or
anything like that. I apologize if I gave that impression.
Clearly we cannot just remove topicmaps.org and its contents
from the face of the earth. But I do think we have a problem in
that it promotes an image of stagnation in Topic Maps. A lot of
people who first hear about Topic Maps go to that site and find
something that has not changed since 2001, when in fact there
has been an enormous amount of activity and progress.

Back in 2001, when we agreed to close down TopicMaps.Org and
move all standards activities to ISO and OASIS, we also agreed
not to make any changes to topicmaps.org for the time being.

As the standards work has progressed in ISO, there has arisen
a need for new PSIs. I proposed that topicmaps.org be brought
under the ownership of SC34 but Michel, the formal owner, did
not want to do that. As a result, the committee has (reluctantly)
decided to use the domain topicmaps.com for all PSIs related
to the revised version of ISO 13250. Empolis GmbH has graciously
donated that domain to the community. The *.com PSIs will eventually
supersede all *.org PSIs.

All well and good, but that leads to a source of confusion if
topicmaps.org remains as it is, ostensibly as the site of a
alternative, rival standardization body for Topic Maps.

All I am suggesting is that we do something to solve this
problem. There are two alternatives I can think of (feel
free to suggest others):

(1) Move whatever content we wish to preserve from *.org
to *.com and use a redirect to ensure that the relevant links
still work. This is what I meant by closing the site down: It
means there would be no content left there to maintain;
everything would be at *.com. We would need to conduct a
dialogue in the community, especially among the former members
of TopicMaps.Org in order to decide exactly what we wanted to
preserve. It might be everything, or it might be somewhat less
than everything.

(2) Leave everything as it is, but add notices on relevant
pages explaining the status of TopicMaps.Org, XTM 1.0, etc.
and including pointers to sites that are more current (in
particular, isotopicmaps.org and topicmaps.com).

I see this as a marketing issue. We need to convey a true sense
of unity and dynamism in the Topic Maps community, not a false
sense of stagnation and confusion. If you don't agree that the
current situation conveys the latter, try this: Imagine that
you are someone new to Topic Maps who has just typed in
www.topicmaps.org and try to imagine the kind of impression
the site now conveys.

Steve

--
Steve Pepper <pepper@ontopia.net>
Chief Strategy Officer, Ontopia
Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 3
Editor, XTM (XML Topic Maps 1.0)

| -----Original Message-----
| From: sc34wg3-admin@isotopicmaps.org
| [mailto:sc34wg3-admin@isotopicmaps.org]On Behalf Of Bernard Vatant
| Sent: 12. oktober 2005 14:42
| To: sc34wg3@isotopicmaps.org
| Cc: Sam Oh
| Subject: RE: [sc34wg3] www.topicmaps.com (and topicmaps.org)
|
| Murray just pointed this among other considerations, but the XTM 1.0 namespace is under
| topicmaps.org domain
| http://www.topicmaps.org/xtm/1.0/
|
| It would be silly to have nothing at this URL, which IMO should be kept, if nothing else,
| to stand as a PSI for the original XTM 1.0 specification, which, whatever one can think
| about it, is a subject worth being indicated. Not to mention other PSIs defined in this
| namespace, even if they are superceded by further XTM specifications.
|
| I'm as amazed as Murray is that one would want to drop this legacy altogether.
|
| Bernard
|
| ----------------------------------
| Bernard Vatant
| Mondeca Knowledge Engineering
| bernard.vatant@mondeca.com
| (+33) 0871 488 459
|
| http://www.mondeca.com
| http://universimmedia.blogspot.com
| ----------------------------------
|
| > -----Message d'origine-----
| > De : sc34wg3-admin@isotopicmaps.org
| > [mailto:sc34wg3-admin@isotopicmaps.org]De la part de Steve Pepper
| > Envoyé : mercredi 12 octobre 2005 12:53
| > À : sc34wg3@isotopicmaps.org
| > Cc : Sam Oh
| > Objet : RE: [sc34wg3] www.topicmaps.com (and topicmaps.org)
| >
| >
| > * Lars Marius (reporting from Montreal)
| > |
| > | The issue of site ownership (that is, ownership of the domain) was
| > | also discussed, and possibilities listed were:
| > |
| > |  - the secretariat (SCC at present),
| > |  - the chairman (Jim Mason at present), or
| > |  - the secretary (Ken Holman at present)
| > |
| > | Since none of these were available at the meeting nothing further was
| > | done about this.
| >
| > * Jim Mason
| > |
| > | On the matter of onwnership of the domain, probably not
| > | wise to associate it with an individual, like Ken or me.
| > | Better to associate it with the organization, SC34 Secretariat.
| >
| > An agreement has been signed with Empolis transfering ownership
| > to SCC. We need now to decide where to host the site.
| >
| > | As for possible hosts, some alternatives came up: Ontopia could host
| > | it, we could host it the same place as isotopicmaps.org, and Sam Oh
| > | said he thought he could get a funded project in Korea to host and
| > | develop it. The consensus was that the last option was the most
| > | attractive, if Sam can indeed get the funding.
| >
| > I would prefer to see one of the National Bodies as host, so
| > I have Sam's proposal, if he can get funding.
| >
| > Regarding content, I think Lars Marius' list is a good start:
| >
| > | - a list of available PSI sets
| > | - news/announcements regarding meetings, conferences, new tools, new
| > |   projects, etc
| > | - a list of publicly available topic maps
| > | - links to the standards
| > | - tutorials and guidelines, should anyone write some and want them
| > |   posted, or linked to
| > | - links to TM user groups around the world
| >
| > This also raises the question of what to do about topicmaps.org.
| > It was frozen in 2001 because of disagreements in an organization,
| > TopicMaps.Org, which no longer exists. The question is, is the
| > community's interest served by allowing it to continue to give the
| > impression that nothing has happened with Topic Maps since 2001?
| >
| > I personally would like to see it closed down with a redirect to
| > topicmaps.com. If it is not to be closed down, the home page
| > should at least contain a prominently displayed notice informing
| > readers about the status of the site.
| >
| > What do others think? Do we have any idea how many hits the site
| > gets?
| >
| > Steve
| >
| > --
| > Steve Pepper <pepper@ontopia.net>
| > Chief Strategy Officer, Ontopia
| > Convenor, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 3
| > Editor, XTM (XML Topic Maps 1.0)
| >
| > _______________________________________________
| > sc34wg3 mailing list
| > sc34wg3@isotopicmaps.org
| > http://www.isotopicmaps.org/mailman/listinfo/sc34wg3
| >
|
|
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