<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">Hi Rob,<div><br></div><div>I would actually be happy to do that as I have quite a few thoughts on the matter, as well as experience in writing a new FITS viewer from scratch.</div><div><br></div><div>Cheers,</div><div>Demitri<br><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Sep 4, 2023, at 2:03 PM, Seaman, Robert Lewis - (rseaman) via fitsbits <fitsbits@listmgr.nrao.edu> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><meta charset="UTF-8"><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Howdy,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The abstract deadline for ADASS BoFs is past. We have about a 2x oversubscription. I submitted a placeholder abstract, see below, which, in early scoring, is doing okay. There’s another FITS-related abstract that could likely be merged – of course, perhaps that one (“FITS Data Displays for Observatory Operations”) will gobble up this one.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Suggestions for topics? Wordsmithing? Is anybody for throwing in the towel and returning to IRAF OIF format?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The session will need a chair since I’m likely to be juggling conference shenanigans. Volunteers?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="border-width: medium medium 1pt; border-style: none none solid; border-color: currentcolor currentcolor windowtext; border-image: none; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;"><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; border: medium; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Rob<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; border: medium; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span>Title: FITS or not FITS, that is the question<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span>Abstract: The FITS data standard has served astronomers well for four decades. The original integer image format has been revised to support additional pixel data types, to support world coordinates and other scientific metadata, to include an integrated data compression framework, and to support generalized binary tables, among other features.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span>In the intervening years, a variety of alternative scientific data standards have been proposed. If used operationally, these usually reach only a limited audience specific to a particular project or community. No other format has ever garnered the widespread support of FITS.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span>Where do we go from here? How can a mature standard like FITS continue to evolve? What formal standardization process should be followed?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div></div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;">_______________________________________________</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;">fitsbits mailing list</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="mailto:fitsbits@listmgr.nrao.edu" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">fitsbits@listmgr.nrao.edu</a><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://listmgr.nrao.edu/mailman/listinfo/fitsbits" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">https://listmgr.nrao.edu/mailman/listinfo/fitsbits</a></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>