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RE: You call that a standard?

• To: "'Hunsberger, Peter'" <Peter.Hunsberger@S...>, Robin Cover <robin@i...>
• Subject: RE: You call that a standard?
• From: "Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@i...>
• Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 14:32:13 -0500
• Cc: xml-dev <xml-dev@l...>

No but requiring conformance testing of something 
one calls standard is the best way to know if it is.

An IETF recommendation is not a standard.  It can be 
something a lot of people care about.   Most people 
care about their children, but we don't have to 
give them conformance tests.   RSS and Atom aren't 
standard products and its tough to prove who cares 
the most about which one.

No one in NASA cared about standardizing the air 
filters in Apollo systems.  YAGNI was the rule 
then too.  Then an oxygen tank that would not 
have passed a conformance test either blew the 
panels off of Apollo 13, and suddenly, everyone 
cared.

You don't always need standards.  The tough bit 
is knowing when you do before you do.

len

From: Hunsberger, Peter [mailto:Peter.Hunsberger@S...]

You don't have to label something a standard for conformance testing to
be meaningful.  I place far more value on a spec when other people have
demonstrated that they care about it.  The more people that care and the
more they demonstrate that, the more potential value the spec has.
Otherwise, call it what you want....

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