Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-13 Thread Alexey Proskuryakov

13.10.2011, в 7:15, Scott Graham написал(а):

> Personally, I see Gamepad as a representative name rather than
> necessarily all encompassing. Analogously we use "Mouse" in other
> specs. Many people use trackballs, trackpads, joystick-like devices,
> etc. to control "some indexed buttons with a 2d location + scrolling
> indications". This is because there's no particularly better word for
> that input concept than "mouse". I believe this is the case for
> "gamepad" too.

The need to emulate mouse is forced by web compatibility. It's hardly a success 
story for coherent API design - beyond lowest common denominator functionality, 
you have to use completely separate APIs for touch, for example.

Besides, it's surprising to me that gamepad can be seen as a representative 
name for wheels or 3d mice.

- WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov

___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Alexey Proskuryakov

12.10.2011, в 16:43, Scott Graham написал(а):

>> - Spec development process that ignores feedback. Multiple people who want 
>> this feature (including one of spec editors) were aware of feedback but 
>> didn't act on it. We had consensus on webkit-dev that the name was bad
> 
> I was indeed aware of your feedback (that you felt the name was
> unclear, as far as I understood it), but after discussing during a WG
> meeting, we haven't thought of a better name. If you have any
> suggestions, I'm sure all would be open to an improved name.

One way to come up with a good name for something already in existence is to 
look how other people call it. For example, a Wikipedia article on USB HID 
devices puts everything this spec cares about into "game controllers" section. 
How about GameController?

You could look at other classifications of input devices. Maybe USB HID spec 
itself has a good classification?

- WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov

___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Scott Graham
2011/10/12 Alexey Proskuryakov :
>
> The issues that I see are:
>
> - Immaturity that's manifesting itself even in the name. You can't really ask 
> someone to meaningfully review a spec when its scope is so unclear.

What about the scope is unclear? I feel that the Scope section of the
spec and the draft charter outlines what we hope to address.

>
> - Spec development process that ignores feedback. Multiple people who want 
> this feature (including one of spec editors) were aware of feedback but 
> didn't act on it. We had consensus on webkit-dev that the name was bad

I was indeed aware of your feedback (that you felt the name was
unclear, as far as I understood it), but after discussing during a WG
meeting, we haven't thought of a better name. If you have any
suggestions, I'm sure all would be open to an improved name.

I apologize for not publicly acknowledging that we have not yet
addressed the issue you've raised. I have opened an issue on your
behalf: http://www.w3.org/2010/webevents/track/issues/24

Again, the goal is to attempt to gather feedback from developers at
this stage, with work done behind a flag so as to reduce any possible
negative impact on WebKit. The hope is that we will learn more.
Perhaps we'll come up with a better name too!
___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Peter Kasting
On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 3:58 PM, Alexey Proskuryakov  wrote:

> Quoting what I actually said in the bug, "I don't think that we should
> accept an implementation of a spec that's so immature that it doesn't even
> have a meaningful name."
>

That the name is not meaningful, and that this is a sign of too great of
spec immaturity, are both judgment calls.  I don't happen to agree with your
judgment in either case (not that my own judgment is objectively better).
 There's been a noteworthy lack of good alternative ideas for the name
("joystick" has similar issues to "gamepad", whereas "input device" or
similar are clearly far too broad for what the spec covers; in the end I
agree with Darin that the name is fine overall), and in that context I'm not
sure the name is evidence for spec immaturity.

We had consensus on webkit-dev that the name was bad, yet a patch was again
> posted for review in Bugzilla.
>

"Consensus" seems somewhat strong.  Looking over the emails sent, you
expressed some concern, but there was not a ton of discussion beyond that.
 I read the tone of the thread as generally OK with things.  (If that hadn't
been the case I would have sent this email earlier.)

As Adam notes, we should be confident of the name before we turn it on by
default, but I don't think that should block development, and I also think
it would behoove people unhappy with the name to offer some clearly-superior
proposals.

PK
___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Alexey Proskuryakov

12.10.2011, в 14:10, Adam Barth написал(а):

> I don't think it's worth blocking development of the feature based
> solely on the name.

Quoting what I actually said in the bug, "I don't think that we should accept 
an implementation of a spec that's so immature that it doesn't even have a 
meaningful name."

The issues that I see are:

- Immaturity that's manifesting itself even in the name. You can't really ask 
someone to meaningfully review a spec when its scope is so unclear.

- Spec development process that ignores feedback. Multiple people who want this 
feature (including one of spec editors) were aware of feedback but didn't act 
on it. We had consensus on webkit-dev that the name was bad, yet a patch was 
again posted for review in Bugzilla.

>  I'd recommend sorting out the name issue before
> enabling the feature by default though, because that's the point in
> time after which changing the name will become painful.  If the name
> is really a sticking point, you can always give the API a ridiculous
> name to force yourself to change it later.

:)

- WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov

___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Michael Nordman
Its obvious that a naming nit is a not a good reason to block development
behind a flag.

Is the the true basis for that r- expressed in this comment?
"The concern here as I understand it is that providing low level access to
every possible controller creates fragmentation, with purportedly "HTML"
content that only works on a few devices. There is no clear cut border here
- it's been mentioned that even touch events can be seen as rare - and then
I advocate that adding more mouse specific events is a bad idea for the same
reason."


But that concern also shouldn't block initial development behind a flag.
Seems like that concern should be brought up with the WG.



On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 12:59 PM, Darin Fisher  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Alexey appears to strongly dislike the name of this API specification (
> http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/webevents/raw-file/default/gamepad.html), so much so
> that he is blocking development of the API behind a flag.
>
> As a reminder, this API is being developed through the WebEvents WG jointly
> with other browser vendors, including Mozilla.  Folks working on this appear
> to be content with the Gamepad name, precisely because the spec is limited
> to dealing with input devices that are represented in terms of buttons and
> axes.  Gamepad seems like a fairly canonical name for such a device, even
> though devices by other names can be represented by similar data.
>
> Does anyone else feel strongly enough that the name of the API is so bad
> that it should therefore not be allowed onto WebKit trunk behind a flag?
>
> Personally, I feel like the name is quite malleable at this point in time,
> and I really like coming up with the best possible name for things.
>  However, I don't see why we need to have the perfect name before we
> continue development of this feature behind a flag.
>
> As we were developing Blob and File support, we made several name changes
> along the way.  It is not always so obvious how to name things from the
> start.
>
> See this bug for reference:
> https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69451
>
> Thoughts?
> -Darin
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 2:07 PM, Alexey Proskuryakov  wrote:
>
>>
>> 06.10.2011, в 13:49, Scott Graham написал(а):
>>
>>  The first revision of the spec (from the Scope section) is intended to
>> handle:
>>
>> ... support for devices common to current gaming systems including
>> gamepads, directional pads, joysticks, wheels, pedals, accelerometers.
>>
>>
>> Why does the spec title and abstract talk about gamepads (joysticks)
>> only? Perhaps it's my mistake that I didn't read the scope section, but with
>> title and abstract being so specific, that seemed unnecessary.
>>
>> Skipping scope section, I went right to IDL. Why is the interface called
>> Gamepad if it's not only about gamepads?
>>
>>  - WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov
>>
>>
>> ___
>> webkit-dev mailing list
>> webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
>> http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev
>>
>>
>
> ___
> webkit-dev mailing list
> webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
> http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev
>
>
___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


Re: [webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Adam Barth
I don't think it's worth blocking development of the feature based
solely on the name.  I'd recommend sorting out the name issue before
enabling the feature by default though, because that's the point in
time after which changing the name will become painful.  If the name
is really a sticking point, you can always give the API a ridiculous
name to force yourself to change it later.

Adam


On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 12:59 PM, Darin Fisher  wrote:
> Hi all,
> Alexey appears to strongly dislike the name of this API specification
> (http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/webevents/raw-file/default/gamepad.html), so much so
> that he is blocking development of the API behind a flag.
> As a reminder, this API is being developed through the WebEvents WG jointly
> with other browser vendors, including Mozilla.  Folks working on this appear
> to be content with the Gamepad name, precisely because the spec is limited
> to dealing with input devices that are represented in terms of buttons and
> axes.  Gamepad seems like a fairly canonical name for such a device, even
> though devices by other names can be represented by similar data.
> Does anyone else feel strongly enough that the name of the API is so bad
> that it should therefore not be allowed onto WebKit trunk behind a flag?
> Personally, I feel like the name is quite malleable at this point in time,
> and I really like coming up with the best possible name for things.
>  However, I don't see why we need to have the perfect name before we
> continue development of this feature behind a flag.
> As we were developing Blob and File support, we made several name changes
> along the way.  It is not always so obvious how to name things from the
> start.
> See this bug for reference:
> https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69451
> Thoughts?
> -Darin
>
> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 2:07 PM, Alexey Proskuryakov  wrote:
>>
>> 06.10.2011, в 13:49, Scott Graham написал(а):
>>
>> The first revision of the spec (from the Scope section) is intended to
>> handle:
>>
>> ... support for devices common to current gaming systems including
>> gamepads, directional pads, joysticks, wheels, pedals, accelerometers.
>>
>> Why does the spec title and abstract talk about gamepads (joysticks)
>> only? Perhaps it's my mistake that I didn't read the scope section, but with
>> title and abstract being so specific, that seemed unnecessary.
>> Skipping scope section, I went right to IDL. Why is the interface called
>> Gamepad if it's not only about gamepads?
>> - WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov
>>
>> ___
>> webkit-dev mailing list
>> webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
>> http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev
>>
>
>
> ___
> webkit-dev mailing list
> webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
> http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev
>
>
___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev


[webkit-dev] Gamepad API [Was: New feature flag proposal: Joystick API]

2011-10-12 Thread Darin Fisher
Hi all,

Alexey appears to strongly dislike the name of this API specification (
http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/webevents/raw-file/default/gamepad.html), so much so
that he is blocking development of the API behind a flag.

As a reminder, this API is being developed through the WebEvents WG jointly
with other browser vendors, including Mozilla.  Folks working on this appear
to be content with the Gamepad name, precisely because the spec is limited
to dealing with input devices that are represented in terms of buttons and
axes.  Gamepad seems like a fairly canonical name for such a device, even
though devices by other names can be represented by similar data.

Does anyone else feel strongly enough that the name of the API is so bad
that it should therefore not be allowed onto WebKit trunk behind a flag?

Personally, I feel like the name is quite malleable at this point in time,
and I really like coming up with the best possible name for things.
 However, I don't see why we need to have the perfect name before we
continue development of this feature behind a flag.

As we were developing Blob and File support, we made several name changes
along the way.  It is not always so obvious how to name things from the
start.

See this bug for reference:
https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=69451

Thoughts?
-Darin


On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 2:07 PM, Alexey Proskuryakov  wrote:

>
> 06.10.2011, в 13:49, Scott Graham написал(а):
>
> The first revision of the spec (from the Scope section) is intended to
> handle:
>
> ... support for devices common to current gaming systems including
> gamepads, directional pads, joysticks, wheels, pedals, accelerometers.
>
>
> Why does the spec title and abstract talk about gamepads (joysticks)
> only? Perhaps it's my mistake that I didn't read the scope section, but with
> title and abstract being so specific, that seemed unnecessary.
>
> Skipping scope section, I went right to IDL. Why is the interface called
> Gamepad if it's not only about gamepads?
>
> - WBR, Alexey Proskuryakov
>
>
> ___
> webkit-dev mailing list
> webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
> http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev
>
>
___
webkit-dev mailing list
webkit-dev@lists.webkit.org
http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/webkit-dev