TAG Election Endorsements
The W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG) election is afoot this month, and there are many candidates for the four open slots. Five of them are running on a reform platform:
I support the reform platform of "make the TAG relevant and useful to the Web", and I hope to see many of these candidates elected to the TAG. I'm writing this post to encourage people to vote for the reform candidates, but also because from recent discussions it seems people don't really know Peter Linss. Moreso than others, I've worked closely with Peter over the past few years. So I want to explain who he is, and why I think he deserves your vote, along with others.
Peter co-invented Mozilla's layout engine, and currently co-chairs the CSS Working Group. Chaals and Robin Berjon mentioned at TPAC that the TAG needs someone with a background in layout and rendering. Of the reform slate, Peter is the only one so qualified.
That's one important reason to vote for him. But imho it's not the most important one.
The important reason to vote for Peter is that he can bridge opposing worlds. He has the right temperament to hold together opposite camps, he has the ability to see from the multiple perspectives that will be conflicting in the TAG, and he has the high-level architectural vision to provide intelligent technical guidance. He's theoretical enough to see an ideal future state for a system, and pragmatic enough to respond to the reality of the present situation. He understands and appreciates both browser and non-browser industries, and can sensibly balance their priorities. He's neither bureaucratic nor anarchic: he'll work with or around the system as appropriate. He can be the glue that holds the TAG together while we encourage it in a new direction, and that is why he deserves a slot on your ballot.