RE: A NEW FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FORMAL MOTION: was RE: SUO: Re: SUO Ballot with 2 Questions
At 09:47 2003-06-09 -0400, Eric Peterson wrote:
>
> Thanks for your reply. Please see below:
> ...
> > > WHEREAS, standards veterans are observed to agree that
> standardization
> > > can not happen without a de facto standard, and
> >
> > MW: I am a standards veteran, and it is not true that a de facto
> > Standard is required before it can be blessed.
>
> [ELP] "Standardization" ("http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary";) is not
> creation. "Standardization" is a transitive verb and therefore requires
> something to be standardized. Wouldn't we agree that the thing to be
> standardized is "practice" - that we are specifying a standard practice?
Here's the *standard* definition of "standard" from "ISO/IEC Guide 2: Standardization and related activities -- General vocabulary":
standard: document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context
So the key features of a "standard" are:
- it's a document
- it represents consensus
- it originates from a recognized body (e.g., IEEE is a recognized accredited standards development organization within the US)
- it's normative (i.e., an agreement on obligation)
There's no requirement that there is any prior standard or practice (e.g., JPEG). However, prior experience is part of the consensus-building process. Prior experience sometimes tells you what to repeat, what to adapt, and what to avoid. Based on the topic, the participants, and the nature of the industry, one might codify existing practice, but that isn't always the case.
-FF
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Frank Farance, Farance Inc. T: +1 212 486 4700 F: +1 212 759 1605
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