[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: ISO and the Standards Golden Hammer (was Re: You
I believe that some folks want to do away with ISO altogether. It lets them do whatever they like with whomever they like and then push that out on to a public that can't tell the difference via labeling it a standard through an organization that could care less. Let the buyer beware. That is fine until the middle tier vendor has to sign an indemnity agreement for that technology while the first vendor merely has to claim, it's 'standard'. I am not saying and have not said, "ISO only" but that consortia working with ISO stand a better chance of producing a reliable standard. ISO is only guaranteeing a process. It is the consortia practices, particularly the IP agreements as bound by the participation agreements that one relies on. As I asked Dare, would you agree that if the following is asked, a better deal results: 1. It is ISO standard (which has a specific meaning) but created by technical committees from consortia (not the marketing guys who go to committee meetings to represent their bosses' viewpoint). 2. Is Royalty-free by dint of a signed participation agreement. 3. Comes with conformance tests and a test mark (a formal variation of a trade mark). So now, 'standard' has a meaning. The quality of the standard is as good as the consortium members that produce it, but the meaning is clear, the IP is open, and conformance tests ensure that something claimed to be 'standard' actually is. As long as people continue to dis solutions that might work, we might as well go back to the proprietary solutions and push for indemnity clauses. If this can't be done through the standards groups, there are very few other alternatives. len From: Rich Salz [mailto:rsalz@d...] Most of these weren't ISO/ITU committees, but were either private industry consortia, or other standards work that got a "finishing polish." In fact, the only one I know of that was ISO from start to finish is X.400, which surely must be considered a temporary success at best, if not an overall failure and waste of time. I believe when most folks say "what has ISO done," they want examples that started in ISO (or ITU, most folks comingle them), rather than another phase on an existing work. If all you need is the latter, than just have ISO versions of IP, TCP, HTTP/1.1, and SSL. So, can anyone point to ISO/ITU success in the computer (software) field?
|
PURCHASE STYLUS STUDIO ONLINE TODAY!Purchasing Stylus Studio from our online shop is Easy, Secure and Value Priced! Download The World's Best XML IDE!Accelerate XML development with our award-winning XML IDE - Download a free trial today! Subscribe in XML format
|