GNOME 2.22 API Freeze Break Request for AT-SPI

[Willie Walker <William Walker Sun COM>]

Hi All:

From http://live.gnome.org/ReleasePlanning/Freezes, I'm not aware if 
the AT-SPI stuff falls under "platform libraries," but I'm assuming it 
does.  Even if it doesn't, I still think it's good form for us to 
formally request a freeze break.

In bug http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=496232 we have been 
tracking work needed to enhance the AT-SPI Collections API to make it 
more useful by assistive technologies.  These changes have been used by 
the Orca project as tracked in bug 
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=491837.  These changes 
represent an API change, and we'd like to request a freeze break for 
GNOME 2.22 to apply the patch at 
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/attachment.cgi?id=105774.

The reasoning for the freeze break is outlined in comment #21 of the 
bug: "The reason is that we're pretty sure Orca is currently the only 
consumer of the Collections API right now.  If we were to not change 
the API now, we risk the chance that someone else will start using the 
API and we will end up with a situation where the changes may have an 
adverse effect on them.  By making the changes now, we can be sure that 
new users of the API will not run into this."

Li Yuan is the module maintainer and is amenable to this as indicate by 
comment #24.  Also CC'd on this bug are Ariel Rios, the implementor of 
the Collections API, and Scott Haeger, who has been using the 
Collections API in Orca.  All are in support of the break request.

Please let us know your thoughts,

Will