Path: utzoo!censor!geac!jtsv16!uunet!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!TACKY.CS.OLEMISS.EDU!dave
From: dave@TACKY.CS.OLEMISS.EDU (David E. Johnson)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso
Subject: Re: OSI Documents
Message-ID: <8911122109.AA29503@tacky.cs.olemiss.edu>
Date: 12 Nov 89 21:09:28 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
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From the information recieved thus far, it seems that to obtain
the specifications for the OSI protocols requires a substantial
outlay of money. Other larger universities may be able to afford
to do such, but as I suspect, most do not have the resources to
apprehend them.

As Gunner Lindberg stated in a previous message, it seems that
large corporate entities are able to afford the set of protocols.
As we have seen with the DOD TCP/IP protocols, the driving force
behind their use and availability has been the presence of public
implementations and complete availability of the protocol specs.

I understand that the fee charged for the documents is to cover
printing and distribution costs, but it seems to me that an
electronic version supplied on disk or tape would cost almost
nothing and provide availability to those who cannot afford the
current selling price of the printed versions. Or as another
possible solution, the basic protocols for each layer could be
made available at a smaller fee than more in depth specifications
at least promoting common knowledge. It seems to me that with
the vast array of ISO documents available for diverse areas of
standards, a reduction in cost would actually increase profit
by increasing purchase volume.

 David E. Johnson               ** Title:        Systems Programmer
 Department of Computer Science ** Telephone:    (601) 232-7396
 The University of Mississippi  ** Internet:     dave@cs.olemiss.edu
 336 Weir Hall                  ** 
 University, MS  38677          **