Hello. My name is GEDCOM X. You might have met me before, but I wanted to introduce myself again because I think we started off on the wrong foot. You see, earlier this year I came stomping into the room with all swagger and sway and started making a bunch of presumptuous claims about being a standard. I naively assumed that the community would rally behind me simply because of my virtues, my style, and my shiny credentials.
Blush.
Well, being loud and presumptuous gets you some attention, but it also tends to rub people the wrong way. And if it goes on for too long, it starts to isolate you. So that’s why I’m here now, hoping you’ll allow me the chance to adjust and clarify my position so you can be comfortable with me being here. Because (like it our not) I don’t plan on leaving.
You’re not going to hear me claim to be a standard anymore. A standard isn’t something you can claim anyway (silly me). A standard is something that has to be earned. A standard isn’t something that spontaneously falls from the sky. A standard takes a lot of hard work and synergy and time and effort.
So who knows? Maybe someday I will be a standard. Or maybe not. Maybe the next standard will arise from the collective minds of a committee or a formal standards organization. We’ll have to see.
But for now, I’m going to continue hacking at the hard problems we need solved right now. I’m going to continue to reach out to whoever in the community is willing to give me feedback. I’m going to listen and adjust and evolve and toughen. There’s a ton of work to do, and I want to do what I can to get it done. With you.
Hello. I’m GEDCOM X. I am an open project providing specifications, libraries, and tools for genealogical data communications, offered to the community by FamilySearch.