X3J11 response to comments (was: Block Closure)

[William E. Davidsen Jr]

In article <1988May2.212040.3274 at utzoo.uucp> henry at utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
| > >An interestingly small number, since it implies that a lot of the moaners
| > >and whiners didn't bother making their complaints official.  I suppose it
| > >is too optimistic to hope that they will henceforth keep quiet...
| > 
| > Perhaps they didn't care to pay $50 (or however much CBEMA was charging) 
| > for the latest standard...
| 
| If they can't find $50 in their own pockets, or their own plus their friends'
| pockets, or their organization's pockets, I really have to conclude that
| they aren't that desperately concerned.  For some reason I suspect that X3J11

  Henry, I rarely disagree with you, but the version you can order
always seems to be out of date.  I would pay a fee for a current
version, and an upgrade fee each time, if they would put the blasted
info online so I can call a number (uucp or BBS) and get something
current.  Paying $50 for something worthless is really too costly, not
only is there no positive value, but you wind up quoting things which
are already changed/fixed. 

  If I were going to make copies, I can make copies with a copy machine
just as easily, so there is no reason to quote honesty as an argument.
To postulate unofficial versions is dubious, too, since I can retypeset
any one page now with a little effort, and make it look official.

  When I was on X3J11 the text was kept in [nt]roff format and could be
accessed as soon as it was changed. I would trade the fancy typeset,
bound, etc, old manual for a current version, even if I had to take it
nroffed to a dot matrix printer. When I stopped going to meetings I wish
I had kept observer status, just to get the mailings and stuff.
-- 
	bill davidsen		(wedu at ge-crd.arpa)
  {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me