From: jcoffin{at}taeus.com
To: c_echo{at}yahoogroups.com

At 05:51 AM 9/22/2003 +0100, you wrote:

[ ... ]

>If M$ are playing fair (kinda hard for me to believe) then the details
>needed to prodice such a VM are publicly avaialable and not subject to
>monthly updates.

The standards are available from the ECMA for free.  If, for whatever
reason, somebody feels the need for the more official version with the ISO
stamp on it, they'll probably have to pay for that.

The ISO rules are that for five years after promulgation, the standard
cannot be changed at all, except for correcting obvious typographical
errors.  After five years, it can be changed, but not simply at the whim of
one company -- somebody who wants to change it has to convince the ISO that
it's in everybody's best interest to do so.

In fairness, I should probably add that MS isn't necessarily obliged to
follow to standards at all, or to refrain from making proprietary additions
as they see fit (and given a five-year time frame, I'm somewhat doubtful
they'll leave things sitting still that long).  OTOH, that's pretty much
true of every company and every standard...
         Later,
         Jerry.

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