OSGi Specs and RFCs

Question

I can only find and download OSGi Specs(e.g. core-spec, enterprise-spec) from its website. What about so-called OSGi RFCs? Are they publicly accessable, and how related to the Specs? Thanks!

Answer 1

From this osgi.org page:

Each Expert Group works on items defined in documents known as Requests for Proposals (RFPs), which set the requirements for the technical development.
RFPs may be created by anyone but are always reviewed by the Requirements Committee to ensure they meet real-world needs and complement the larger objectives of the OSGi Alliance.

Assuming the RFP is accepted, the relevant Expert Group develops Requests for Comments (RFCs), which define the technical solution to the RFP.
The Expert Group also develops Reference Implementations and Test Cases to support the RFC where this is appropriate.

The Member Area of the OSGi web site contains much more information and detail on specific activities, including drafts and final versions of RFPs and RFCs, final but pre-release versions of specifications and other technical documents, minutes, schedules and calendars of Expert Group meetings, and other important information. This information is only available to members.

So only the members can access those RFCs.

Answer 2

Regarding "draft specifications":

From time to time the expert groups of the OSGi Alliance publish some draft RFCs under a special license (the Distribution and Feedback License) for a public review in order to receive comments from non-OSGi members and other organisations.

The download page to access these draft specs is http://www.osgi.org/Specifications/Drafts .

To keep the RFCs non-public was a decision to protect the IPR as well as to keep the resulting specifications as unconfusing as possible. Sometimes one or more RFCs are combined into one specification, sometimes an RFC amends an existing spec. The RFCs are basically work-in-progress.

There are some RFCs the OSGi Alliance decided to publish. Those are the ones you can access. One example is RFC 112 Bundle Repository. This is a stand-alone spec, which is complete in itself.