Implementing Open Standards in Open Source
Lawrence Rosen: Specifications are different from software, but they are weapons in the competitive software wars and they are subject to legal control by contract and by law. Companies try to control specifications because they want to control software that implements those specifications. This is often incompatible with the freedom promised by open source principles that allow anyone to create and distribute copies and derivative works without restriction. This article explores ways that are available to compromise that incompatibility and to make open standards work for open source.