Gregory Stark <stark@enterprisedb.com> writes:
> "Mark Mielke" <mark@mark.mielke.cc> writes:
>> I'm sure one or two examples must exist, but I cannot think of any. Every
>> enhancement I can think of that eventually made it into a standard, was first
>> implemented within a popular product, and then demanded as a standard to be
>> applied to all other products.
> C99? SMTP? NTP?
> It tends to be important for network protocols since there's no gain in having
> non-interoperable protocols.
Actually, the IETF's mantra has always been "rough consensus and running
code" (cf http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2031.html). Network protocols
don't get standardized in advance of a working prototype, either.
(No, I take that back: there were some that did. Ever heard of OSI?)
regards, tom lane
