Standards/Participating in a W3C Working Group: Difference between revisions

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clarify a few things about WGs vs CGs, some copyedits

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-== Ways to participate (to join or not to join) ==
+== Ways to participate ==
-W3C working groups have a defined membership:  people can become a member of a working group or community group by being nominated by a W3C member company, by being invited by the chairs of the group (an invited expert), or by being a W3C staff member placed on the group by the W3C.  However, most W3C working groups have most of their technical discussion on public mailing lists, which means that non-members can participate in many of the activities of the group.  So, when you approach a W3C working group, you could decide to do so by becoming a member of the group or just by joining the public mailing list and participating in the discussion.
+W3C groups have a defined membership: people can become a member of a Working Group (WG) or Community Group (CG) by being nominated by a W3C member company, by being invited by the chairs of the group (an invited expert), or by being a W3C staff member placed on the group by the W3C.
-How should one choose between these alternatives?  While there's a good bit of variation between groups depending on the [http://www.w3.org/Consortium/activities charter] of the group, its chair(s), and the other participants in the group, I suggest considering the following factors:
+Most W3C Working Groups have most of their technical discussion on public mailing lists, which means that non-members can participate in many of the activities of most WGs.  When you approach a WG, you could decide to do so by becoming a member of the group or just by joining the public mailing list and participating in the discussion.
-* being a member of the group signals Mozilla's support for a group to others (e.g., W3C staff, others in the industry).  (This means that if the group is working on something we don't like, being a member may confuse other companies into thinking that Mozilla supports or is contributing to the work of the group).
-* members of the group may (depending on the charter of the group) have more ability to influence the decisions and the output of the group
+How should one choose between these alternatives?  While there's a good bit of variation between groups depending on the [http://www.w3.org/Consortium/activities charter] of the group, its chair(s), and the other participants in the group, we suggest considering the following factors:
-* if you want to attend face-to-face meetings or teleconferences of the group, you should be a member of the group
+* Becoming (and remaining) a member of the group signals Mozilla's support for a group to others (e.g., W3C staff, others in the industry).  This means that if the group is working on something we don't like, being a member may confuse other companies into thinking that Mozilla supports or is contributing to the work of the group.
-* the group may have expectations that members participate (e.g., by attending phone or face-to-face meetings, by keeping up with certain aspects of the discussion).  These vary by group and are described in the "Participation" section of the group's charter.
+* Members of the group may (depending on the charter of the group) have more ability to influence the decisions and the output of the group
-* some mailing lists may require being a member of the group to subscribe (although this is rare), even when the archives are publicly viewable
+* If you want to attend face-to-face meetings or teleconferences of the group, you should be a member of the group
-* becoming a member of the working group involves making some patent commitments, which may make other participants more comfortable accepting your contributions
+* The group may have expectations that members participate (e.g., by attending phone or face-to-face meetings, by keeping up with certain aspects of the discussion).  These vary by group and are described in the "Participation" section of the group's charter.
-* other members of the group may expect somebody representing Mozilla is responsible for implementation work / decisions in Gecko; if you're not, you may wish to consider being extra clear about what your role is
+* Some mailing lists may require being a member of the group to subscribe (this is true for all Community Groups for example), even when the archives are publicly viewable
+* Becoming a member of a WG involves making some patent commitments, which may make other participants more comfortable accepting your contributions
+* Other members of the group may expect somebody representing Mozilla is responsible for implementation work / decisions in Gecko; if you're not, you may wish to consider being extra clear about what your role is
 When you decide you want to participate:
-* If you want to just join the [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/ public mailing list]:
+* For most Working Groups you may consider just joining the [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/ public mailing list]:
 *# Send an email to "list-name-request@w3.org" with the subject "subscribe".  (Don't forget to add the "-request" to the end of the list name.)
 *# Reply to the automated reply.
-* If you want to become a member of the working group, and you work for Mozilla:
+* If you want to become a member of a WG or a CG, and you work for Mozilla:
 *# Make sure you have a W3C member access account associated with Mozilla:
 *#* if you don't already have a W3C user account, [https://www.w3.org/accounts/request create one]. Using a @mozilla.com email will lead to the account being created automatically; other email addresses will require that you choose '''Mozilla Foundation''' as the affiliation, and then there will be a human intervention step that requires a day or so, perhaps more.