Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 12:26:25 -0500
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Standardized operating system (was Re: equal pay)
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

>
>"Keith F. Lynch" wrote:
>
>> [snip good arguments against OS standardization]
>
>Standards are in the same category as laws and sausages.
>
>I described the international standards process to a friend of mine
>once.  Full treatment -- took a half hour or so (covered only the ISO
>part).  She thought about it for a minute, and said "In other words,
>nobody can eat the soup until everybody's peed in it".
>
>Best one line summary I've ever heard.
>
>As a trivial example, "OSI" stands for "International Organization for
>Standardization".  English name, French abbreviation.

Au Contraire, mon amie!

Not OSI, but ISO:

English website: International Organization for Standardization
(http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage )
French website: Organisation Internationale de Normalisation
(http://www.iso.ch/iso/fr/ISOOnline.frontpage)

OSI is the initials for the Open Source Initiative (http://www.opensource.o=
rg/)

mjw

>
>--
>Steve Smith                                           sgs at aginc.net
>Agincourt Computing                            http://www.aginc.net
>"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."
>