Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!yale!cmcl2!brl-adm!adm!dsill@NSWC-OAS.arpa
From: dsill@NSWC-OAS.arpa (Dave Sill)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: (So-Called) ANSI C
Message-ID: <11135@brl-adm.ARPA>
Date: 6 Jan 88 19:03:13 GMT
Sender: news@brl-adm.ARPA
Lines: 50

>More than one person posted information about the first formal
>public review ... to this very newsgroup, and it was announced in
>several other places including trade periodicals.

I must have come in after the review period started.  I still haven't
heard the dates for the second review period.  Have they been decided
yet?

>There was no $60+ per copy fee for keeping updated.  The only
>draft I know of that was available for purchase was the first
>formal public review version, which I am told did cost $60+ for
>the one issue.

Huh?  Assuming one needs a copy of the draft up for review to
intelligently comment on it, how would one avoid the $60 fee?  Of
course another copy will be required for the second public review so
we're really talking $120+.  How soon before the review period will
copies be available?  What should one ask for when ordering to ensure
getting a copy of the draft up for review?

>The printing/distribution fee, besides recouping some of the
>cost of producing the document, also serves to limit much of
>the formal public commentary that the committee has to wade
>through to mostly thoughtful remarks from people who care.

Oh, so if I can afford a copy of the draft then I'm likely to care and
make thoughtful comments, otherwise I'm dirt?

>Anyone who thinks X3J11 is not doing all it reasonably can to
>accommodate outside concerns about the content of the standard
>is simply wrong.

I know, it's a thankless job but someone has to it.  Don't get me
wrong, I realize what a difficult thing X3J11 is trying to do, and I
appreciate the committee's efforts.  That doesn't mean that I should
blindly accept their decisions just to make their job easier.

My point is that it behooves the entire C community to scrutinize the
proposed standard as closely as possible before it becomes a standard.
Now is the time to make adjustments...

I'm not saying the information (commenting procedures and the draft
itself) is unavailable or even hard to find, just that it could and
should be more accessible.  I'm sure $60+ is a reasonable fee for a
copy of the draft, I just wish it was more affordable.

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

Which is worse: ignorance or apathy?  Who knows?  Who cares?