The Prentice-Hall Dictionary of Computing as a couple of errors in
it's definition of what a standard is.  It should read-



STANDARDS.

Clearly defined and agreed-upon conventions for programming
interfaces. Standards may be-

- proprietary  (Designed to benefit a single vendor, usually the
                dominant player in the field, for the sole benefit
                of that vendor)

- industry     (Designed to benefit multiple vendors
                in a given field, usually aimed at reducing
                the dominance of the lead player in the field)

- public       (Designed to benefit the public.)

- formal       (developed by a standards organization such as ANSI or
                ISO with the primary goal of benefiting the standards
                organization)


Now that we have a definition of the four types of standards, could we
put this thread to rest?



For the humor and sarcasm impaired, add a :-) and a :-( to this post.

--
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 Life is short.                  | Craig Spannring
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  When all you've got is Perl, everything feels like a smashed thumb
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