OASIS and ebXML (was Microsoft Refuses to support ebXML)

Jim Murphy said:

> That is exactly the (mis)perception I have.  Delineating the protocol
> specs vs. application is helpful but with your noted exceptions I
> wouldn't have come to that conclusion on my own.  It seems like a more
> significant philosophical rift to me:
>
> 1.  ebXML: all-or-nothing vs. GXA: layered
> 2.  ebXML: top down GXA: bottom up

A few comments:
a. Keep in mind that GXA is a Microsoft thing. No one other that Microsoft
uses the term. The folks at W3C calls the SOAP-based framework WSA (Web
services architecture). Sun uses the term WUST (WSDL/UDDI/SOAP
technologies).
b. ebXML is also a layered thing. You can use any ebXML component (MS,
RegRep, CPPA, BPSS, and CC) on its own. You don't have to use them all.
c. The real distinction between ebXML and WSA is their design centers. ebXML
is designed to support the requirements of B2B ecommerce. It's not
especially appropriate for other applications. As you said in an earlier
post -- it is trying to replace/improve EDI. WSA is designed to support any
type of application.
>
>
> Clearly OASIS is "the primary backer of ebXML" - other than UN/CEFACT
> who else does - the industry adoption list looks somewhat limited [1]?
>
> [1] - http://www.ebxml.org/endorsements.htm

This assertion doesn't sit right with me. I think it's because you don't
really have a controlling committee at OASIS the way you do at W3C. At W3C,
you can't start a new activity or working group without convincing Tim
Berners-Lee that we need one. It's much, much easier to start a group at
OASIS. Any OASIS member can start a group.

So there isn't really an entity at OASIS that could be said to "back" ebXML.
OASIS simply provides the venue for people to come together to work on the
ebXML specifications. The "backers" of an OASIS specification are the
companies that participate in the technical committees. From what I've seen,
the primary backers of ebXML are folks like Sun, XML Global, Boeing, NIST,
and DISA.

You can read messages from the SOAP archive, unsubscribe from SOAP, or subscribe to other
DevelopMentor lists at http://discuss.develop.com.