barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin) (05/03/90)
In article <5776@buengc.BU.EDU> bph@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton) writes: >Just thought I'd add that you'll never quite get a "formal >ANSI ruling" on it, as ANSI doesn't do interpretations, >according to the description on the copyright page (guess >whose copy just arrived, a mere 9 days after he mailed the >check -- would that the standard itself were put together >so promptly...). They suggest writing to the Computer and >Business Equipment Manufacturers Association. And what do you think CBEMA will do with the request? They'll send it to X3J11. CBEMA is the convenor of most X3 technical committees. >So, a letter from Tom Plum, Vice Chair of Technical >Committee X3J11, is about as formal as it gets. I've seen a number of X3J11 members refer to being in interpretation mode now. >(Interestingly enough, the clause where ANSI states they don't >give interpretations is mere words after the one that states >they don't develop standards...) They don't. They set rules which technical committees abide by in the development of standards, and they publish the completed standards, but they don't write standards themselves. -- Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar