eric@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com (Eric Lavitsky[hmm]) (05/25/88)
What follows is the text of the Amiga Working Groups Proposal as presented at the Developer's Conference last month. Please take the time to read this document and provide feedback through the means outlined within it. Several working groups are already taking shape - most notably in the IFF arena. I need a volunteer to post this document to CompuServe, Genie, PeopleLink, and Delphi (and whatever services I've forgotten). If you can provide such a service, please send mail to me and I'll give you the go-ahead (we don't want upmteen people posting this to the same network). Feel free to print this out, post it on your own BBS, or re-print it in your newsletter or magazine. Feel free to mail your comments to me or cbmvax!lauren (Lauren Brown) Thanks, Eric -------------------------------<cut here>---------------------------- Amiga(tm) Working Groups - Proposal And Discussion Submitted By Perry Kivolowitz and Eric Lavitsky 1988 Commodore-Amiga Developer's Conference Washington, DC This document is copyright (C) 1988 by Perry Kivolowitz and Eric Lavitsky. Permission is hereby granted to re-produce this document in it's entirety or in part through any physical or electronic means provided this copyright notice remains intact. 1.0 Overview This document shall serve to define the structure which will govern the formation and operation of Amiga(tm) Working Groups. The AWG Project is in its formative stages. The distribution of this document at the 1988 Amiga Developer's Conference is intended to spark the interest and the input of the developer community at large. Please read this document and send us your feed back through the means provided. 2.0 Amiga Working Groups (AWG) This section defines the concept and goals of the AWG Project. 2.1 Definition Of An Amiga Working Group An AWG is a formalized group of developers sharing a strong interest in a specific area of research and development which may advance the state-of-the-art in Commodore Amiga software (or to a lesser degree, hardware). 2.2 Goals Of An Amiga Working Group The AWG Project has the following goals: A) To enhance the formal interchange of ideas and technology within the developer community (and from within Commodore-Amiga itself) specifically in the development, formalization, and publication of software standards (and to a lesser degree hardware standards). B) To focus the direction of participating developer research in order to more closely tie future product development to future directions of the Amiga market place (as globally defined by Commodore-Amiga). C) To supplement and complement basic research and development being performed by Commodore-Amiga to the extent permitted by Commodore-Amiga. D) To provide materials to be used to produce an annual or semi-annual Proceedings of Amiga Working Groups. This proceedings shall be distributed to every certified and commercial developer and shall contain the written culmination of the work performed by each AWG. 2.3 Ownership Of Work Performed By Amiga Working Groups Any work performed by an AWG shall be the property of the developer community at large with the AWG Steering Committee acting as the agent of the developer community. The AWG Steering Committee shall grant free perpetual use licenses to any member of the developer community wishing to have access or use of any material developed by the AWG Project. No member of the developer community may be denied access or use of any material developed by an AWG. The purpose of the licensing procedure is two fold. First, to provide an owning entity so that material produced by the AWG Project will not technically be entered into the public domain. Second, to provide for a database of users and interested parties to further facilitate information flow. 2.4 Connection With Commodore-Amiga(tm) 2.4.1 Use And Non-Use Of AWG Developed Material It must be understood by all parties concerned that involvement of Commodore- Amiga in the AWG Project or in any specific AWG does not constitute any official endorsement of the work being performed by that group. Nor does it obligate Commodore-Amiga to use or not use any of the work performed by any group or any group member. Commodore-Amiga can, of course, have access to or use any material developed by the AWG Project perpetually and without any financial liability. 2.4.2 Involvement Of Commodore-Amiga Staff In The AWG Project Commodore-Amiga has expressed a committment to provide two persons for the AWG Steering Committee. Apart from these two individuals, Commodore-Amiga staff will participate in specific working groups as interests and time may dictate. 3.0 Amiga Working Group Project Structure 3.1 AWG Steering Committee (AWGSC) 3.1.1 AWG Steering Committee Definition And Purpose The AWG Steering Committee is the top most level of AWG Project structure. It shall serve several purposes: A) It shall be the principal investment of Commodore-Amiga personnel time. Two Commodore-Amiga employees shall be designated to sit on the AWGSC. Through these individuals Commodore-Amiga will express its corporate wishes in matters of AWGSC discussion and also through these individuals information from individual AWGs requiring Commodore-Amiga input will be channeled. B) The AWGSC shall be the sanctioning body for the creation of new working groups. The formation of working groups must be controlled for the following reasons: 1. To prevent the duplication of effort. 2. In work areas which will require sanctioning by Commodore- Amiga: To channel effort into work areas in which Commodore- Amiga has interest rather than areas which will have no hope of being adopted by Commodore-Amiga. 3. To facilitate the collection of AWG results by the AWGSC for the purpose of producing the Proceedings. 4. To ensure that the work of the AWG will be available to all members of the developer community in a fair and e- qual manner. C) The AWGSC shall be the issuing body of free perpetual use licen- ses governing access and use of material developed by the AWG Project. D) The AWGSC shall collect, edit, and publish the results of all AWGs in an annual or semi-annual Proceedings Of Amiga Working Groups. E) The AWGSC shall prepare and deliver a report to the developer community at all Developer's Conferences summarizing the achiev- ments of the AWG Project since the previous Developer's Conference. F) The AWGSC shall prepare a quarterly newsletter summarizing The achievments of the AWG Project in the absence of a Developer's Conference during any given quarter. This newsletter shall be distributed with AmigaMail(tm). G) The AWGSC shall be the arbitrating body in the settlement of any AWG membership disputes which cannot be settled internally to the working group. Please refer to section 3.2.2 for more information concerning this point. 3.1.2 Method For Governing The Steering Committee The AWGSC shall conduct its own affairs based upon Robert's Rules of Order. 3.1.3 Steering Committee Structure The AWGSC shall be composed of 5 members of the developer community and two members designated by Commodore-Amiga. By internal election one member shall be designated Chairperson and shall conduct meetings of the AWGSC under the principals of Robert's Rules Of Order. Also by internal election the AWGSC shall elect one member to the position of Secretary. The AWGSC Secretary shall prepare minutes of AWGSC meetings in accordance with Robert's Rules Of Order. 3.1.4 Initial Composition Of The Steering Committee The initial holders of the developer seats on the Steering Committee shall be by election by the current members of the Steering Committee. That is, the members of the Steering Committee shall elect the newer members untill all five developer seats have been filled. 3.1.5 Term Of Office And Election Method Developer seats on the AWGSC shall come up for election after a one year term. The nomination and election process shall be conducted through AmigaMail. No more than one person from any one company can serve on the AWGSC at any given time. 3.1.6 By-Laws Of The Steering Committee The initial AWGSC shall be obliged to prepare a set of by-laws which will fully define issues pertaining to Steering Committee membership and procedure. 3.1.7 Meetings Of The Steering Committee Formal meetings of the AWGSC shall be held four times per year or more often if required. These meetings can be conducted in person if possible or on some electronic messaging system supporting real time group conferencing. 3.2 The Working Group 3.2.1 Definition And Purpose As previously stated the Amiga Working Group is a formal collection of members of the developer community sharing a common subject matter interest as well as the desire and committment to invest time and effort in advancing the state-of-the-art in that subject area. 3.2.2 Membership In The Working Groups Membership in an AWG is open to any member of the developer community as defined the the certified and commercial developer list maintained by Commodore-Amiga. For reasons of practicality the individual working group shall be free to specify its operating size though it must be noted that this operating size cannot be used to prevent an interested party from joining the working group. We must expect individual developers to join only those working groups which they are confident that they can and will contribute to. Purely for reasons of practicality the members of a working group shall be free to drop from its membership those persons deemed not to be contributing members. In the event of membership disputes which cannot be settled from within the working group itself, the AWGSC shall act as the arbitrating body. 3.2.3 Working Group Structure In the absence of any less formal method, the members of the working group shall elect a Chairperson. The Chair shall act as the liaison between the working group and the AWGSC for the purpose of conveying information to and from the working group and Commodore-Amiga (if no Commodore-Amiga employee chooses to fulfill this role directly). The Chair will oversee the work of the group and facilitate the collection of the groups results for publication in the Proceedings. The Chair shall also facilitate meetings of the group by what ever means are applicable. Apart from a mandated Chairperson, the structure and running of the individual working group is left completely to the membership of the group with the expectation that the members of the group are committed to the ideals of the AWG Project (information interchange and technology development). 3.2.4 Duration Of Membership There will be no formal limitation on membership in any AWG. Members may retire from the group at whatever time they choose. 3.2.5 Meetings Of The Working Groups As with the Steering Committee, working groups should try to meet in person as often as possible on the occasion of such events as trade shows and conferences. The Steering Committee shall coordinate the reservation of space and time at such events. However, it is expected that a substantial portion of the work of any group shall be exchanged among the group's members via an electronic messaging system. For the time being, the messaging system of choice shall be the Byte Information Exchange (BIX) where many developers as well as Commodore-Amiga are either already members or in fact already run their own conferences. Companies already having conferences of their own on BIX may host closed topics as the means of communications among group members. 3.2.6 Obligations Of The Working Groups Each working group shall be required to prepare a summary and review of the group's work to be submitted to the AWGSC for publication in the Amiga Working Group Proceedings or other publication. Each group is also be re- quired to submit interim status reports to the AWGSC for the purpose of gauging group progress not so much by the AWGSC but by the working group itself. Apart from the above obligations each working group is left substantially alone with regards to operations with the restriction that no developer may be excluded or favored over another. 4.0 Forming New Working Groups For the AWG Project to be a success it must by its very nature encourage the formation of new and diverse working groups. For the results of a work- ing group to be included in the Proceedings and enjoy other benefits of the AWG Project, the group must seek sanctioning by the AWGSC. Keep in mind that it is the job of the AWGSC to encourage the formation of new groups and not to hinder such activity. Sanctioning by the AWGSC is an essential part of maintaining the overall organization of the AWG Project. Sanctioning will also serve several other aims: First, it will prevent the duplication of work areas between working groups. Duplication of effort cannot serve the developer communities best interests. Second, should the desired work area require the involvement of Commodore- Amiga (in the form of incorporation of the results of the working group's labors into the standard ``supported'' Amiga environment) the AWGSC will solicit Commodore-Amiga's input right at the start before any work has been invested. Should Commodore-Amiga find that the work area conflicts with other work either planned or in progress the AWGSC will convey this information to the members of the prospective working group for their reassessment. Lastly, the sanctioning process will allow the resources of the AWGSC to be brought to the aid of the group wishing to form a new working group. These resources include the publicization of the new working group to attract in- terest and membership. 5.0 Initial Working Groups Substantial discussions on the subjects of IFF standards for animation and desktop publishing are in progress currently through less formal means. The initial working groups could be formed around these subjects to bring a more formal footing to this research as well as benefit these already on- going efforts by providing a broader venue for the work. Other areas currently being discussed through informal means include: User Interfaces, IPC, Serial Device Extensibility and other topics. These are also ripe for the formation of formal Amiga Working Groups. If you are currently involved with any ongoing informal research it is in- cubment upon you to write us at the address given at the end of this doc- ument. Your participation in this project is particularly crucial in that you are already comfortable with the concept of working with a dispersed group and you've already demonstrated your interest in seeing some quality results come of your labors. 6.0 Current Status The Amiga Working Group Project has been discussed informally for the past four months within Commodore-Amiga and within the developer community. This document is the results of these discussions. The fact that you are holding this paper in your hands right now attests to the determination of the developer community to join together for the advancement of the common good. We have been granted a tentative committment of resources to publish and distribute the Amiga Working Group Proceedings. Given our intention of pro- ducing a substantial volume of documents for the Proceedings, the tentative grant of resources to accomplish such a feat is a major step forward. Also, we have been granted the tentative and cautious committment of Commodore-Amiga to work with us to see if we can't get this project off the ground. If we can, then everyone will benefit. Given the general mumbling for an opportunity like this, if we don't capitalize upon this chance we as a community will have sent a clear signal that we intend to stay small and isolated rather than become the progressive marketplace we can be. 7.0 We Need Your Support And Comments Please put your thoughts to paper (and send the resulting sheets to the ad- dress given below). Specifically we would like to know what you think of the AWG Project concept. Will you participate and in what way? What groups would you like to see formed? Would you help form them? And finally, will you support us in concept? Please send your views to: CATS - Working Group Survey Commodore Business Machines 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, Pa. 19380 Note: CATS has been kind enough to allow themselves to be used as a collec- tion point for your views. This does not imply any additional support or endoresement of the AWG Project except those which have been mentioned pre- viously in this document. 8.0 Where Do We Go From Here The nucleus of the AWGSC (the persons responsible for the creation of this document) together with interested parties from Commodore-Amiga and the developer community will collect your views as sent to the above address. Your input will be summarized and condensed, the results of which will be digested in a future edition of AmigaMail. The AWGSC will at the same time attempt to fill its remaining (four) developer seats (please indicate your serious desire to fill one of these seats in your input to us). It is our goal that at least several working groups can be in place and ac- tually produce results for publication by the time of the 1989 Developer's Conference. -- ARPA: eric@topaz.rutgers.edu or eric@ulysses.att.com BIX: asdg UUCP: {wherever!}ulysses!eric or {wherever!}rutgers!topaz!eric SNAIL: 34 Maplehurst Ln, Piscataway, NJ 08854