reasons, political or otherwise, for omitting info (was @internet standards and clarity)

Subject: reasons, political or otherwise, for omitting info (was @internet standards and clarity)
From: "Monique Semp" <monique -dot- semp -at- earthlink -dot- net>
To: "TechWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 13:44:06 -0700

Something political is going on here. Nobody sane dictates
an explicit REQUIREMENT for lack of clarity, unless they
have an ulterior motive.

I do hope that you have been preserving all the IN-WRITING
exchanges on this matter. If it's not useful in an
employed-anymore-or-not situation, it might still come
in handy at annual review time, when your "plays well
with others" is called into question.

Since this topic has morphed into an important broader discussion, I'm changing the subject line.

Fortunately for me and the situation that gave rise to the initial thread, the issues aren't nearly as complex, nor the people involved as nefarious as implied by some of the replies.

Knowing the people involved, I'm sure that it's largely a matter of lack of clarity & precision in their own writing -- a nicely ironic scenario here :-). And we're having a sensible discussion all 'round to get to where everyone is on the same page with regard to providing the info that's most necessary to ensure that the doc readers successfully do what they need to do.

Yes, sometimes that means that there are reasons for a product's docs to *not* sound like there's one hard & fast method or set of rules (or given standard) that can possibly address all the possible situations. That's part of deciding what is appropriate content *within the context of how things are in real life* vs. some theoretical ideal.

Now, back to work.

Happy long weekend to those who will be on holiday for the US Memorial Day weekend,
-Monique

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Follow-Ups:

References:
Re: "Internet Standard (STD)" - phrase known by Web programmers ?: From: Laura Lemay
Re: "Internet Standard (STD)" - phrase known by Web programmers ?: From: Monique Semp
RE: "Internet Standard (STD)" - phrase known by Web programmers ?: From: McLauchlan, Kevin

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