Stating that the "W3C XML Activity... does not have the resources to address XML packaging at the present time," Paul Grosso announced the release of "existing background information in the hopes that it may be of some use to any public efforts to address these issues."

The documents released to the public include:

• The minutes document of the "only meeting of the XML Packaging Task Force", in December 1999.
• Joel Nava's Report on XML Packaging (W3C Note 2 Aug 1999), a previously unpublished document which "endeavors to capture the scope, problems and benefits that such a specification should encompass."
• A draft XML Packaging Working Group Charter (The minutes document claims that "The XML Packaging WG has an approved charter. This TF meeting is to consider the range of related issues/use cases, re-evaluate the charter in light of these issues, and make suggestions to the CG about how best to address the issues," but this document is labeled 'draft'.)
• Tim Bray's Related-Resource Discovery for XML This document has been public for some time, but it provides an overview of what XML packaging would be useful.

In conjunction with the release of this information, the W3C has begun a mailing list, www-xml-packaging (Subscribe), for further public discussion.

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• Good Things Come in Small Packages (XML.com)
• Solution coming to the namespace - schema - packaging problem