Since the dawn of time (i.e., 1997) a group of individuals known as the "CCC" has reviewed every change to every exported interface of the JDK, including not just APIs but also system properties, command-line flags, environment variables, and file formats. The goals of the CCC are to ensure that every such change is motivated, documented, as compatible as possible, and, finally, consistent with related interfaces, standing practice, and developer expectations.
The CCC was originally created at Sun, and then carried over into Oracle, but it has remained an internal entity that is neither transparent nor accountable to the wider OpenJDK Community even though it has the power to reject prospective interface changes. This is inconsistent with the overall goals of the Community. Per the OpenJDK Bylaws [1], therefore, I hereby propose the creation of a new Group, "Compatibility & Specification Review", or "CSR", to replace the CCC. The Group Lead will be Joe Darcy, who has led the CCC within Oracle for the past seven years. The initial Group Members will include Alan Bateman, Brian Goetz, David Holmes, Doug Lea, Phil Race, and me. The CSR Group will not of itself have any particular authority. The Lead of any OpenJDK Project may, however, choose to empower the CSR Group to review interface changes proposed within that Project. In my role as Lead of the active JDK Release Projects [2], I intend to do that. The actual CSR process will be proposed and adopted within the CSR Group once it's formed. Preliminary support for the process has already been prototyped in JBS. Only Members of the Governing Board [3] are eligible to vote on this motion. Votes must be cast in the open by replying to this message. Votes are due in two weeks, by 23:00 UTC on Tuesday, 14 February. For Simple Majority voting instructions, see [4]. - Mark [1] http://openjdk.java.net/bylaws#_4 [2] http://openjdk.java.net/bylaws#jdk-release-projects [3] http://openjdk.java.net/census#gb [4] http://openjdk.java.net/groups/#new-group-vote
