Subject: IPP> ADM - How is IPP a "compatible subset" of DPA?

From: JK Martin <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 1997 18:59:55 -0400 (EDT)

Carl-Uno,

You wrote:

> 2) We would like to emphasize a little more that IPP has it's roots in and
> is intended to be "compatible subset of" DPA.

Can you (or anyone else) post a small message describing exactly how
IPP is a "compatible subset" of DPA?  And, perhaps more importantly,
describe the significance of this relationship?

Aside from the obvious marketing potential for vendors who ship (or
expect to ship) DPA-based products, of what importance is this
relationship between IPP and DPA?  That is, how is the "average user"
supposed to value such a statement?

When Underscore conducted a booth last October at the Usenix Systems
Administrators Conference in Chicago, one of our market research goals
was to determine the "Q factor" of DPA, and to measure the opinions of
those customers who actually knew what "DPA" was.  In all honesty, the
response was *not* good.  Answers to our questions typically resulted
in such statements as "Too big, too late and too expensive."

If the IPP community firmly believes in a strong public relationship
between DPA and IPP, then a brief "Executive Summary" of how IPP
compares/contrasts with DPA would be a good thing, no?

	...jay

---

From: Jim Walker <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 14:16:22 -0500

> describe the significance of this relationship?

No, Jay, I for one cannot describe how IPP is a "compatible subset"
of DPA.  Quite the contrary, I have been telling my management at
DAZEL that the IPP is knowingly diverging from the DPA/Posix standards.
I brought this up several times at earlier IPP meetings, and everybody
seemed comfortable with this.

I think that it is time to fish or cut bait with this issue.  Either
we need to stop referring to DPA (and friends), or we need to do more
than mere lip service to make sure that the IPP actually is a
"compatible subset" of DPA.  Given the leanings of the group, I frankly
do not understand we are still trying to maintain that heritage.

...walker

--
Jim Walker <[email-masked]>
System Architect/DAZEL Wizard
DAZEL Corporation, Austin, TX