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> The answer to this question is in the thread I'm looking for. It maybe once
> was a standard, but the times they are a'changin'.
Tell that to IEEE, ISO, and others. The only major standards body that does not require the use of "shall" is IETF, who allow "must" as a synonym for "shall" in RFC documents. The Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shall_and_will says:
On standards published by International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), requirements with "shall" are the mandatory requirements, meaning, "must", or "have to". The IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) defines shall and must as synonymous terms denoting absolute requirements, and should as denoting a somewhat flexible requirement, in RFC documents.
Actually, that Wikipedia page has an extensive discussion of the ins and outs of choosing between these two verbs in general discourse as well as formal documents. It's probably more discussion than you'd care to read, though, since you seem to have already made up your mind on the issue, and are just looking for some opinions to back you up.
-Fred Ridder
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