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From: John S. Quarterman <[e-mail]>
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Subject: standard article
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From: John S. Quarterman <[e-mail]>

USENIX and Standards

As a result of the increasing importance of standards in the UNIX
community, the USENIX Association is expanding its involvement in
standards related to the UNIX operating system.  The Association is
interested in promoting technical stability through standards without
limiting technical progress.

Since 1986, the Association has had an Institutional Representative on
the IEEE P1003 (POSIX) committee.  This expanding standards effort
includes greater coverage of the P1003 subcommittees, as well as the
/usr/group Technical Committee and of the ANSII X3J11 C Language committee.

    USENIX Association standards involvement includes:

%  providing information to the membership and the public through ;login:,
comp.std.unix on USENET, BOFs at conferences, and in the trade press;

%  providing forums for technical discussion which may include
workshops or technical sessions at conferences;

%  acting as an ombudsman for those otherwise unrepresented on the
standards committees;

%  encouraging people to become involved in the standards efforts;

%  attempting to enhance the technical quality of the standards by
encouraging concise, written proposals.

This expanded USENIX Association standards effort is being implemented
through two committees.  The first is a working committee of volunteers
from the various standards committees.  The second is a policy committee
initially consisting of Alan G. Nemeth, USENIX Association President,
John S. Quarterman, USENIX Association Director and the Association's
Institutional Representative to the IEEE P1003 committee, Shane McCarron,
IEEE P1003.1 Secretary, and Grover Righter.

Volume-Number: Volume 14, Number 27

From news  Sun Sep 11 17:45:59 1988
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From: [e-mail] (Moderator, John S. Quarterman)
Newsgroups: comp.std.unix
Subject: Tasks of Volunteers for USENIX Standards Watchdog Committee
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Date: 12 Dec 88 08:07:38 GMT
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Approved: [e-mail] (Moderator, John S. Quarterman)



                    Tasks of Volunteers

                            for

            USENIX Standards Watchdog Committee

Policy Committee

The Policy Committee makes policy decisions,  and  currently
consists of Alan G. Nemeth (USENIX President), John S. Quar-
terman (USENIX Institutional Representative to  IEEE  1003),
Shane  P.  McCarron  (IEEE  1003  Secretary),  and Grover P.
Righter (well-known IEEE 1003 participant).

     There are a few organisational positions:

Volunteer Organiser
     This person, currently Mark Colburn, is responsible for
     coordinating who is watching which committee.  Ideally,
     there will be at least one person  watching  each  IEEE
     1003  subcommittee, each /usr/group Technical Committee
     Working Group, X3J11, and special delegates to OSF  and
     Sun/AT&T.  These people need to know of each other, and
     people need to be found and  delegated  for  committees
     that are not covered.

Report Editor
     Shane McCarron has been writing quarterly  reports  for
     USENIX  after  each IEEE 1003 meeting for almost a year
     now.  Each Watchdog Committee member should  provide  a
     written  report  after  each  meeting for Shane to edit
     into a combined report.

Working Committee

The Watchdog Committee is neither a standards  body  in  the
sense of IEEE 1003 or X3J11, nor a pre-standards body in the
sense of the /usr/group Technical Committee.  Its purpose is
to keep track of standards bodies, not to become one.

     A typical Watchdog Committee volunteer should be  some-
one  who  is already attending a standards committee's meet-
ings, and who is willing to  add  USENIX  functions  to  the
tasks  already  being  performed.  USENIX does not pay these
volunteers, nor even reimburse expenses.

                     December 12, 1988

                           - 2 -

     There are five basic tasks that  a  volunteer  for  the
USENIX Watchdog Committee might be called on to do.

reporting
     The most basic task is to provide a written  report  to
     the  report  editor about significant activities in the
     committee being watched.  See the accompanying descrip-
     tion of what should be in such a report.

influencing
     Encourage written proposals by members of the committee
     being  watched,  and  otherwise  promote reasonable and
     productive technical discussion.

ombudsman
     Introduce ideas  or  even  proposals  from  people  and
     groups  who  can't  attend  meetings.  This may be done
     either at the discretion of the watcher or sometimes at
     the request of the Policy Committee.

recruiting
     Try to find people who should be participating in stan-
     dards  activities  and  encourage  them  to do so.  For
     example, if a particular technical area is  being  con-
     sidered in a committee, and you know of a group that is
     doing major work in that area, informing that group  of
     the  discussion  and  enouraging  them  to get involved
     would be good.

speaking for USENIX
     The least common task will be to speak for  USENIX.   A
     volunteer  may do this only when authorised to do so by
     the Policy  Committee,  and  needs  to  make  sure  the
     affected  standards group understands when this is hap-
     pening.

     The Policy Committee  may  decide  that  direct  action
needs  to be taken in a standards body, perhaps by presenta-
tion of a proposal, or by arguing  for  or  against  another
proposal.   In  this  case, the Policy Committee may ask the
watching volunteer(s) to  do  so  (the  volunteers  may,  of
course,  decide  not to do so).  Or the Policy Committee may
send one of its members to do so.

     The only specific directive from the  USENIX  Board  of
Directors  is to attempt to prevent standards from prohibit-
ing technical innovation, so most direct action  will  prob-
ably be related to that.  However, the Policy Committee also
has a  free  hand  to  take  any  other  action  that  seems
appropriate.

                     December 12, 1988

                           - 3 -

Contacts

To volunteer, or for further information, please contact:

USENIX Institutional Representative
     John S. Quarterman
     [e-mail]
     [phone]
     Texas Internet Consulting
     701 Brazos, Suite 500
     Austin, TX  78701-3243

Watchdog Volunteer Organiser
     Mark Colburn
     [e-mail]
     [phone]
     NAPS International
     117 Mackubin St.
     Suite 1
     St. Paul, MN  55102

Watchdog Report Editor
     Shane P. McCarron
     [e-mail]
     uunet!bungia.mn.org!ahby
     [phone]
     NAPS International
     117 Mackubin St.
     Suite 6
     St. Paul, MN  55102

                     December 12, 1988


Volume-Number: Volume 15, Number 46

From news  Tue Dec 13 19:58:41 1988
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From: [e-mail] (Moderator, John S. Quarterman)
Newsgroups: comp.std.unix
Subject: Reports from Volunteers of the USENIX Standards Watchdog Committee
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                  Reports from Volunteers

                           of the

            USENIX Standards Watchdog Committee

     Each volunteer on the USENIX Standards Watchdog  Commi-
tee  should  provide  a  written report to the report editor
after each standards  meeting.   These  need  to  be  rather
high-level  reports,  unlike  either the official minutes of
the meeting,  or  the  reports  of  events  that  appear  in
/usr/group's  CommUNIXations  magazine.   More how, why, and
who, than just what.

     Specific kinds of desirable information include:

Issues:
     Things  that  are  new,  important,  controversial,  or
     chronically  discussed.   Although the Policy Committee
     may suggest some specific things to watch  for,  mostly
     picking  issues  to report is left to the discretion of
     the volunteer.

Arguments:
     on each side of the issues.

Parties:
     Who is promoting each side, preferably phrased as types
     of  parties,  such as vendors, users, user groups, etc.
     But when in doubt, give  names  and  details;  let  the
     report editor worry about paraphrasing for publication.

Recommendations:
     What you think should  be  watched  closely,  what  you
     think  should  happen, and what you think USENIX should
     do about it.

Opinions:
     Whatever else you think people should know.

                     December 13, 1988


Volume-Number: Volume 15, Number 47

From news  Wed Dec 14 18:24:32 1988
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From: Dave Sill <[e-mail]>
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Subject: USENIX Standards Updates
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From: Dave Sill <[e-mail]>

First, let me say that I respect Shane McCarron, value his opinions on
standards-related issues, and appreciate USENIX's efforts to promote
standards awareness.

But...

The latest Standards Update was far too editorial.  In fact, it seems
to have become more of a soapbox for Mr. McCarron than an attempt to
make the masses aware of recent progress in standardization.  In
particular, Part 3, NIST (NBS) Federal Information Processing
Standards contained about one and a half paragraphs reporting what
NIST has done recently and expects to be doing in the future, but four
and a half paragraphs of opinion on the worthiness of their approach.

Apparently Mr. McCarron has trouble making the distinction between
journalism and editorialization.  The Standards Update should be just
that: an update of the progress of standardization efforts.  There are
other, more appropriate, forums, such as this mailing list/newsgroup,
for Mr McCarron's opinions.

This problem has already been brought to his attention.  In Part 8,
POSIX 1003.7 Update, he writes:
    "When I last wrote about this group, I was very critical of
    its charter and the possibility of it succeeding.  I think
    it only fair to relate that a number of people wrote me and
    said that I was too judgemental, and that I should take a
    wait and see attitude.  Bowing to the will of the people, I
    am not going to draw any conclusions about the working group
    at this time.  After the January meeting, when they have
    formalized the areas they are going to address, I will
    relate all of that information and you can decide if what
    they are doing is a good thing.  In the interim, if you want
    more information, or would like to share your opinions with
    me, please drop me a line."

Exactly, Mr. McCarron, relate the information and let the reader form
his own opinion.

=========
The opinions expressed above are mine.

"Money is congealed energy."
                    -- Joe Campbell

Volume-Number: Volume 15, Number 49