Open Standards
From BlueObelisk
Open Standards
Open standards offer insight in how things are done, and also allow implementing that standard without fees.
Open Standards is a slightly fuzzy term (some authorities only use "Standard" if part of a legally enforceable process). Here we assume the "standards" documents are openly accessible and redistributable, but not necessarily modifiable without formal procedure. For example the [[1]] recommendations (XML, XSLT, ...) are Open to access and redistribution but have a formal, closed, membership for their creation and a copyright which forbids modification. The IUPAC InChI has a closed membership for its creation but the source code representing the specification is openly accesible. Both have open discussion lists. CML also has a closed membership (the current authors) but is openly published and has Open Source implementations. The best example of an Open community creating an honoured standard is [[2]] where 100 members of the XML-DEV list [the specification in a month]. This is difficult to achieve and the question of how a community can create an Open standard which can be protected from abuse is difficult.
In general a proprietary format, even if published (MDL, SMILES, etc.), is not Open as there is no community process for its development; it can, in principle be modified by the owner at any stage. Open Standards do not mandate Open Source, though we strongly recommend it.
An essential complement to a Standard is a toolkit to test conformance and the Blue Obelisk will develop these. They depend on test cases for both validation and invalidation.
Current "standards" for Blue Obelisk include:
- AlgorithmDictionary
- W3C protocols
- [3]
- C++
- InChI, see also FAQ
- CML and CML at SF
