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From: g-patter@gumby.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Standardization
Message-ID: <322@gumby.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 28-Feb-85 15:00:42 EST
Article-I.D.: gumby.322
Posted: Thu Feb 28 15:00:42 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Mar-85 03:13:58 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
Lines: 27

Seems like snowballing with my claim that "the plural of standards is an
oxymoron."  I thought my meaning was fairly clear, but seeing as it isn't,
I shall elucidate.....

    In one sense, standard is quite reasonably pluralized.  So is "water."
    I'm still of the opinion that if you have more than one standard, you
    have none....within a given domain.  To slightly extend the metric
    messages (:-) that have recently cropped up, does the existence of a 
    standard meter preclude the standard for anything else, anywhere else?
    You've got the right idea, but not far enough.  Conflicting standards
    within a domain DO negate each other's worth WITHIN that domain.  Oh, sure,
    you can have an ISO standard Pascal, an ANSI standard Pascal, etc....but
    this still leaves you without a  STANDARD PASCAL.  Within
    their respective domains, both of the above ARE standard.  But how about
    in the enclosing domain of "Pascal users, generally?"  The original
    context was that there is no unified standard.  I'm quite willing for
    you to disagree, as long as you're objecting to what I meant, not what
    I said (or didn't say)(:-).  I'll be happy to continue this rationally,
    but the metric analogies are getting to be a bit much, and don't really
    belong here anyway.

    Constructive responses to me or this group, flames to /dev/null.

    I hope I've shed a little glimmer on what was originally a bit obscure 
    (since compounded by citing out-of-context).

	-Steve Patterson, UWMadison