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Subject:standards From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Tue, 28 Jun 1994 16:42:45 EDT
Caryn Rizell writes:
>Why can't we develop standards? I think that if we
>agreed to have standards the 'how' would be easy.
It ain't that easy. For instance, IBM already has guidelines wrt to
a/an before an initialism/acronym (follow how it's spoken), and wrt to
shut down/shutdown (one's a verb, one's a noun). If another company out
there has a different set of guidelines, I am not in a position to negotiate
a common standard for the two of us on behalf of IBM. Knowing IBM, frankly,
there's very little short of the apocalypse that would get them to change
those standards.
I think the discussion on this list is great - but not all discussion has
to be towards a consensus. Sometimes it's enough of an achievement to air
the different points of view (no matter how wrong some of 'em may be :-)
I think of the list as a way of acknowledging diversity, rather than
achieving conformity.
OK, enough two-bit words for one day....
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: if I spoke on behalf of IBM they'd be paying me a lot more.
