Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!purdue!decwrl!ucbvax!CERNVAX.BITNET!nagler%olsen
From: nagler%olsen@CERNVAX.BITNET ("unizh.UUCP Robert Nagler")
Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2
Subject: Re: Pascal dying out?
Message-ID: <8811031318.AA23886@klaus.olsen.uucp>
Date: 3 Nov 88 13:18:41 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: Info-Modula2 Distribution List <INFO-M2%UCF1VM.bitnet@jade.berkeley.edu>
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 18

> If so, what's the point in developing a standard for a language
> which its own author doesn't support?

Here are my best guesses:
    1) The author has gone on to new things while the people
       who are creating the standard are trying to tie up the loose
       ends that the author feels are not very important.
    2) The standards people want to see "their ideas" come to
       fruition.  (The "me too" factor seems to have a strong
       influence in the current Modula-2 standard effort IMHO.)
    3) A de facto standard emerges (viz. UCSD Pascal and VMS FORTRAN)
       which is more useful (or cheaper) than the original language.
    4) People think they have the backing of the author when in
       reality s/he is just given them lip service.

Rob Nagler
olsen!nagler@uunet.uu.net
[Usual disclaimers apply.]