🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <23356A@erik.naggum.no> enag@ifi.uio.no writes:

>
>ISO standards are sold by and copyright ISO.  ISO has exercised their
>prerogative as copyright holders to not make them available for FTP.
>
>Best regards,
></Erik>

Yes, Erik, and this will have the natural effect of limiting the flow
of OSI information, knowledge and awareness etc. etc.  As a comms consultant
I need access to masses of essentially tutorial information to increase
my ongoing knowledge.  I do not write code nor "implement" standards.  
I develop comms & networking strategies for clients, mostly in the public 
sector.  I write procurement specs for big LANs (e.g. 1800 outlets), and 
advise on LAN & WAN protocols and the approach to be taken to integrate
complicated mixes on systems (VAXs, ICL VME, RS6000, big NetWare sites etc),
when we need to start considering FDDI, frame relay.  Applicability of X.25
networks, comparison of protocol services, network management etc.

Furthering my knowledge of OSI (particularly re network & transport layers)
for ISO 8473, 10589, 10747, 9542, 8208,  etc. etc.  EWOS functional
profiles etc etc.  has been a very difficult and costly excercise !!!!.  

The standard for NSAP allocation (BS 7306) cost me forty one UK pounds!!!
ISO 8348/Ad2 which defines NSAP structure cost me thirty two UK pounds!!!

At these prices, the full set of standards would run into many hundreds
of UK pounds.  And I repeat, many of us need these for tutorial and 
reference purposes.

Contrast this position with the freedom of access to RFCs....

From my PC in my office at home I can FTP onto Imperial College in London 
(src.doc.ic.ac.uk), download any RFC and have it printed in less time than 
it would take me to walk to my archive department (the garage).

Whilst this situation prevails, the quality of understanding, advice
technical knowledge and clear strategies will be higher for TC/IP
related issues than for OSI.

A quick test:  How many people knew very little about OSI (transport layer
               and network layer)  AND  TCP/IP  five years ago?

		How many of those now know a lot more about TCP/IP
		and still know very little about the equiv. OSI protocols?

Yes, the ISO's excercising of its copyright on standards is limiting the 
speed with which OSI protocols will be taken up by the user community.

The question is: does it matter?


--
Phil Royse   Comms Consultant, Purley   |  Mail brought to you by PCElm 3.01.
             Surrey   (+44)81 645-9868  |