david t. asuncion, jr. wrote: > Please enlighten me. > > What are open standards? Can you please give me an example of open > standards and why it is open standards and examples of not open > standards and why it isn't open so that I can understand it better? >
An open standard is a standard whose definition is available to everyone and which may be implemented by anyone with the inclination to do so. One example of an open standard is (X)HTML. Anyone can read the HTML specs from the World Wide Web Consortium and make their own web pages, and anyone can take that standard and follow it to implement a web browser. In contrast, a non-open standard would be the Microsoft Word file format. The specification for the Word file format is not published anywhere to people outside of Microsoft, and any third parties that do manage to get copies of the specification are most likely bound by non-disclosure agreements, with limiting clauses that give specific things that they can do with the spec. Only those specifically blessed by Microsoft may see the specification, and they may only use the specification in ways approved by Microsoft. The spec may also be covered by patents, so any attempt to replicate what may be in the spec either if one received it officially (and violated the NDA) or reverse-engineered Word, may be in danger of patent litigation. There are all sorts of limitations on who can get hold of the standard and who can implement it. Open standards are good for governments, as they ensure the longevity of their data. Want to make a bet that Microsoft will not go out of business or decide to stop supporting .DOC within the next 20, 50, or 100 years? That's the kind of bet a government makes whenever it decides on a closed standard. 20 years ago WordPerfect was king of the hill with word processing; where are they now? It is naive to think that the same fate will escape Microsoft and Office. Government records have lifetimes measured in decades, and if they are held by anything other than an open standard they risk losing them to the whims and fortunes of the gatekeepers of the non-open standard. Open standards, by virtue of their being open, have no such problems, as the specification is made available to anyone and anyone may take the specification and make an implementation. -- Nothing is more exhilerating than to be shot at without result. http://stormwyrm.blogspot.com/ _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
