ANSI Catch-22

[Arthur B. Smith]

Ok, here's one that's good for a chuckle (or maybe a groan).  This is
a classic snafu....  The X3J11 committee has finally been able to
aprove the draft standard, and we have an American National Standard
for C.  The only problem is that, now that we have it, we can't get
it!  It seems that the only place to get a copy of this is through
Global Engineering Documents, Inc in Irvine, CA.  Having had the
misfortune of just now wanting a copy of the draft/standard (I don't
really care much which, since they are so nearly identical for recent
editions of the draft), I just finished talking with them.

It seems that the standard is not yet available (still in press), but
now that it is an approved standard they are not allowed to sell
copies of the draft.  I asked how long before the standard is in
print, and was told that it has no "due date" and that I should call
back in a couple weeks (that was today, Jan 16).

    	Sigh,
    	art smith 
    (art at dinorah.wustl.edu  or  
     ...!uunet!wucs1!dinorah!art)