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From: Preben Randhol <randhol@pvv.org>
Subject: Re: The revolution will not be standardized
Date: 1999/12/15
Message-ID: <m34sdkuz7o.fsf@kiuk0156.chembio.ntnu.no>#1/1
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Date: 1999-12-15T13:09:59+00:00
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Geoff Bull <gbull@acenet.com.au> writes:

| Ted Dennison wrote:

| > Being documented does not make something a standard. By that logic,
| > every commercial API in the world would be a "standard".
| 
| True - but if something has a few million users it is a defacto
| standard.

Which is also the problem. A different angle. Many users use Microsoft
Words. The file format Word uses change from version to version and is
of course kept secret. But people still upgrade and use Word because
everybody else does even though it is not in their best interest.

So having Sun "own" Java and being the "benevolent" ruler of how Java
is supposed to work is not a thing I would like for the future.

I would think Sun strategy is not to get people to use _their_ OS, but
that everybody should use Java. Then Sun gets a monopoly through that.

So having Java as an ISO standard where Sun does not control it is
IMHO a better solution for the future.

See also:

http://www.osopinion.com/Opinions/GeoffreyRobinson/GeoffreyRobinson2.html

| > "When is a standard *not* a standard?".
| 
| When nobody uses it.

I don't see the logic here.


-- 
Preben Randhol -- [randhol@pvv.org] -- [http://www.pvv.org/~randhol/]     
         "Det eneste trygge stedet i verden er inne i en fortelling." 
                                                      -- Athol Fugard