TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Seeking info on IEEE-1063 standard From:"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 12 Aug 2004 14:37:17 -0400
Sandy Harris wrote:
> Bonnie Granat wrote:
>
>> The draft, as I understand it, was freely available on the Web before
>> the standard was issued. What is being distributed now is not the
>> final approved standard, but the draft. I didn't see a problem with
>> that, but perhaps I'm mistaken.
>
> I do see a problem. The boilerplate text for IETF Internet Drafts
> includes:
>
> Internet-Drafts are draft documents ...
> and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at
> any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
> material ...
>
> Anyone implementing a standard or seriously concerned about one should
> get a copy of the actual standard. That way, you have some hope of
> getting it right.
>
We agree entirely. This is a draft document; it is NOT the standard. I
have no clue what the actual standard is. But for an individual who is
interested in seeing the DRAFT document, looking at it seems fine. I do
not represent a company.
> In my view all standards should, like the IETF ones, be freely
> available. As I see it, groups like IEEE are being sleazy and greedy
> when they sell theirs. They do have other income sources such as
> membership dues and publication subscriptions.
>
> That said, any company that needs an IEEE standard should buy it.
>
I agree, but I cannot blame employees of companies that will not do so
from wanting to see what the draft for the standard was. They are not
using it for personal gain.
In short, I see nothing wrong with viewing a draft of a standard.
ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
