Allow to propose the specification improvements publicly, using something like GitHub pull requests - michaliskambi/x3d-tests GitHub Wiki

As the X3D is an open standard, I propose to maintain and improve it exactly like open-source software:

Publish the specification sources on GitHub, and allow people to submit pull requests versus the specification.

The "pull request" is how you show proposed changes (what to remove, what to add) in the XXI-st century:) We have this cool technology of version control, diffs and pull requests, and code reviews, integrated in GitHub (and other platforms), it would be great to just use it for the development of X3D specification.

Examples where this works:

• glTF specifications from Khronos.

  Look how cool is this: https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF/

  You can read the specification, see all the changes, and you're only a few clicks away from forking the spec to create a pull request to propose a change. Like this: https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF/pull/1147 . Everyone sees the proposed changes ( https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF/pull/1147/files ), everyone can comment (using the "conversations" or even GitHub "code review" system which allows to easily request changes in the middle of text). When the consensus is reached and the change is accepted -- someone with permission just clicks "merge" and it is committed, a commit looks like this: https://github.com/KhronosGroup/glTF/commit/ac92c9214f27e21cfcd8d18b969c39a80dd6e15d#diff-a787a363bd89618cda440f087cd0e0e1 .

• https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Docs

• https://github.com/KhronosGroup/WebCL

• https://github.com/mozilla/webxr-api

I dream that something like this would be possible with X3D specification. Technically, it is trivial to achieve -- just open (for public view) the existing GitHub repository with Web3D specifications.

I believe that GitHub "pull requests" (or simpler "issues") are much better way to collaborate than the current Web3D "spec comment" form (backed by closed Mantis and closed Web3D repo).

• GitHub "issues" are a nice simple bugtracker.
• GitHub "pull requests" are like an issue, with additional attached "proposed modification" that can be comfortably created, discussed and applied.

In the long-run, it will result in a better X3D specification. And this, in turn, will bring more members to Web3D consortium.

I know that there are concerns that "making the X3D specifications completely open will diminish the membership benefits". (Right now, only members have access to the draft spec.) But I believe that:

1. This would be more than "made up", by having better X3D specification, attracting more contributors to X3D, and effectively having more "potential members". Some of those "potential members" will become members, even if the benefits of membership will be smaller than they are today.

2. X3D needs to do this at some point anyway, to stay competitive. I mean, high quality specification, with features comparable to glTF 2.0.

Note that the Khronos system doesn't prohibit having "closed" groups (closed repositories, closed mailing lists, closed Slack channels, whatever is necessary for private conversations). However, by "default" the conversations are public (e.g. contributions and reviews of the spec), and it seems more open to newcomers than X3D. Newcomers see the same invitation as open-source projects: "please contribute to a glTF/Vulkan/etc. specification". They are not asked to sign any papers (a Khronos member reviews their work for potential intellectual-property problems anyway, before merging), and they are not asked to pay a membership fee.