Questions on X3J11 draft

[Henry Spencer]

> Many of the obtuse inclusions in this standard are there simply for the
> convenience of certain manufacturers. Not for the convenience of those
> who have to use C compilers. It allows almost ANYTHING to be called
> a conforming compiler - good for buisness for the manufacturers ...

While I sympathize with this point of view in general, it should also be
pointed out that this standard isn't going to go anywhere or be of general
use unless the manufacturers are happy with it, or at least willing to put
up with it.  A certain amount of compromise is necessary, given that manu-
facturer compliance with the standard is generally voluntary.  In particular,
the last thing we want is for somebody big -- notably AT&T or IBM -- to be
sufficiently dissatisfied that they publish their own, different, standard.
Consider the /usr/group standard and the SVID:  /usr/group was first, but
when there's a conflict, people generally go along with the latest version
of the SVID.
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry