Re: standards

[Steve Fouts <sfouts -at- ELLISON -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM>]

- Nancy Hoft says
|} On the subject of standards for terminology...
|}
[deletia]
|}
|} So, before you start blasting the concept of standardized terminology,
|} realize that some work has been done in this arena.  Why? Because in
|} a global marketplace (or whatever the current buzzword/phrase is today)
|} you need standard terms so that people whose native languages are
|} different can use one term to convey one meaning. As more and more
|} companies "go international" and feel the pangs of what this costs
|} (translation, etc.), they will quite willingly agree that standardized
|} terminology is smart!

Oh absolutely!

Lets see what I have in my library. ANSI/IEEE Std 1084-1986, ``IEEE
Standard Glossary of Mathematics and Computing Terms,'' JEDEC Standard
No. 77-A, ``Terms, Definitions, and Letter Symbols for Discrete
Semiconductor and Optoelectronic Devices,'' JEDEC Standard No. 99-A,
``Glossary of Microelectronic Terms, Definitions, and Symbols,'' JEDEC
Standard No. 100, ``Terms, Definitions, and Letter Symbols for
Microcomputers and Memory Integrated Circuits,'' and several others.

I use them all the time. Its part of what I described before, informed
choice. But look at how specialized those standards are, then consider
that most of them required years of bloodshed to  write. STC is too
broad an organization to write an effective standard. Just representing
all of the industries is going to require a convention hall roughly
the size of Spokane, then how are you going to reach a concensus?

    _______________   _____
   /  ___  __/__\  \ /  / _\    Steve Fouts
  /___ \|  |  ___\  |  /  __\   sfouts -at- ellison -dot- sc -dot- ti -dot- com
 /   /  \  |      \   /      \
/_______/__|_______\_/________\ "She understood, as he did, that all writing
was infernally boring and futile, but that it had to be done out of respect
for tradition"                  --Stanislaw Lem