Since it's been quiet lately....

<RANT>
When I was a kid growing up in the USA, the USSR was the bad guy. The thing
I remember most (besides Kruschev with a hole in his shoe) was that their
government was always spewing complete bull$h!t to their people. And the
government's version was the only version the media dispersed. That wasn't
really the worst aspect of their regime, but that's what I remember most
vividly.

It seems to me that America is sliding down the same path these days. You
look the camera in the eye and spew. Your story doesn't even have to be
very plausible. This technique seems to be working for our current regime
and for several ex-CEO's. I concede that our current leaders are not the
first to employ the tactic (I would argue that the gravity of the subject
matter is vastly different, but that's a whole 'nuther thing).

And now it seems to propagating into the general population.


IPC-7351 is different than any IPC spec has ever been. If you purchase it,
you receive a piece of software from an outside company as part of your
purchase. If you use this software, you find that more goodies are
available to you from the authors for a price. I'm not saying whether
that's a good thing or a bad thing, just that it's true.

Now it sounds as though the next highly anticipated spec, IPC-2152, will be
similar in that it will be linked with an outside company's product(s).

When posts on this forum appeared questioning the way things were being
done, in both cases, responses quickly appeared informing us that these
guys put up a lot of their own money and time just to get this done. These
postings implied that people out there are making great personal sacrifices
to improve things for us designers, with little or no thought of personal
gain. No backroom deals or insider trading, nothing sneaky here.

The point being obscured by this propaganda is that IPC specifications are
now endorsing and bundling specific commercial products. It appears to be a
trend.

Is this acceptable to the general population of specification consumers, or
does it seem a little shady? Are there any other examples of standards
organizations integrating a limited subset of a commercial software
application (with hooks to other for-purchase features) into their
published specifications?

-Chris (el-CID)

P.S.
If I decided to open a restaurant, I'd put a lot of my own time and money
into it. I'd hope my customers really loved the food, left happy, and came
back often; that dining at my establishment affected their lives in a
positive way. I'd care deeply about people who eat, and honestly have their
best interests at heart.

But it would all be driven by self-interest. I wouldn't do it if I didn't
think I could at least make a living at it. I don't think anyone would. I
wouldn't appreciate being represented as some sort of culinary martyr in
the food forums.

And if I was in cahoots with the food critics and travel guides, and on the
premier gourmet publication's board of directors, that'd be great for me.
</RANT>





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