See https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/blob/master/specification/trace/sdk.md#built-in-samplers in the specs
Spec needs to be updated to say what should happen if there is no parent (I think technically it says now that the sampled flag should be "false" then, but I wonder if that fits the name). Related https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/issues/492
I think the specs is clear, it says if it has a parent and parent is sampled then true otherwise false. I am not sure what is the confusion.
I think I got the confusion and opened a PR in specs.
I think https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java/pull/1444 resolves this issue?
closing by #1444 .
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Spec needs to be updated to say what should happen if there is no parent (I think technically it says now that the sampled flag should be "false" then, but I wonder if that fits the name). Related https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/issues/492