LX/04-0020
in040497
April 13, 2004
LINUX STUDY GROUP REPORT TO THE INCITS EB - APRIL 2004
Dave Thewlis, Chairman, INCITS Linux Study Group
1. Linux Rapporteur Group Meeting
The meeting of the Linux Rapporteur Group was held in Tokyo, Japan on
3-5 February 2004. My Head of Delegation Report for this meeting is
IN/04-0316.
As may be seen from that report, the recommendations produced by the
LRG at the meeting were very satisfactory to U.S. positions. The
LRG decided that the FSG was doing fine with Linux Standardization and
didn't see any reason for SC 22 to get involved. It saw no reason
for a new working group or other entity in SC 22 to deal with the NWI on
Posix/Linux differences and recommended that the NWI be dealt with by SC
22 itself given that it is nearly complete. And it saw no reason for
any new working group in SC 22 to deal with Linux issues, feeling that regular
liaison relationships with the FSG would be fine for the submission of
requirements, etc. It did recommend that FSG establish liaisons with
SC 22 and SC 35, and considered (but did not recommend) a liaison with
SC 27. The LRG also noted that it had completed all of its tasks and saw
no reason for any subsequent meeting of the LRG prior to reporting to SC
22.
The only strong support for a more active role in Linux for SC 22 came
from Keld Simonsen, representing the DKUUG (Danish Unix User's Group) and
to some degree from Canada. This may be because there was essentially
no European representation at the meeting. Keld was representing
DKUUG and not Norway; the U.K. representative was Nick Stoughton, who was
there primarily on behalf of FSG and Usenix (and who is based in Oakland,
California). ECMA was
represented by Ted Smith, whom I had never met, and said he was there
as an observer.
It is still possible that some NB or SC 22 entity may propose a subsequent
NWI related to the Posix/Linux differences, or to do something else, but
no suggestion was made from the LRG meeting.
2. Future of INCITS Study Group on Linux
As far as I know, the intent in INCITS has been that, if/when a new Working
Group on Linux was created in SC 22, the U.S. would morph or fold this
Study Group into a new U.S. TC which would be our TAG to the new WG.
At the LRG meeting, John Hill, the SC 22 Chairman, was very clear that he
wanted a recommendation to create a new WG or perhaps a way to re-instantiate
WG 15 with an expanded charter, to give SC 22 a new and interesting technology.
He didn't get it from the LRG meeting but that doesn't mean something may
not emerge elsewhere. In any case, whether it has another meeting
or does anything else, the Linux Rapporteur Group will exist until the next
SC 22 Plenary meeting in September.
Under the circumstances, I recommend to the INCITS Execytuve Board that
the Linux Study Group be maintained as the TAG to the LRG and a P member
of CT 22, which will help us maintain awareness of what may be going on elsewhere
in SC 22 with respect to Linux.