re; standards was Re: Re: Re[2]: axis naming conventions

Smoke,

I agree with your "should be's". But this is a capitalist society
(USA) and as such...

This industry is not "out of line". MOST standards are NOT FREE!
But...
Freely AVAILABLE? Now that's a different question!

Underwriters laboratories (UL) has based its business on "developing"
standards. Yeah, it's an independant BUSINESS, NOT a gov't org!
Priced any lately? How about ISO? ANSI? SAE? EIA? and on... and on...

And then the paying begins to find someone "duly QUALIFIED" to test
and be sure you MEET these standards. We're talkin' thousands of
dollars here... And if ya don't do it, and someone gets hurt...
MILLIONS...

Ballendo (more below)

>If the industry is so concerned about getting everyone to use the
>same conventions (which is good) then why are these "standards"
>copyrighted and must be PURCHASED in order to use them?

They don't HAVE to be purchased... But they are not always EASY to
FIND... Major (state) libraries, and at universities specialising in
manufacturing and design.

>Sounds to me like one particular group is attempting to force others
>to "their" standards at a substantial financial benefit to them!

Absolutely TRUE!!! And VERY common "across the board". What do you
think the Microsoft lawsuit is about?

>"Standards" should be free and available to anyone wishing to use
>them....otherwise they aren't really standards.
>Smoke

Gotta disagree here. A standard is based on its' ACCEPTANCE, NOT its
PRICE or AVAILABILITY. May not be fair, but it is true!