[fitsbits] Start of the 'INHERIT' Public Comment Period

[Robert Hanisch]

> Nobody has suggested that the inherit convention shouldn't be documented
> in the registry.  The main issue that Bob raised earlier is whether the
> IAUFWG (or anyone else for that matter) should be able to ofter any
> advice, or recommendations, to potential new users of the convention,
> beyond simply documenting what keywords are used by the convention.
> This is a general issue that will affect a number of conventions, not
> just the inherit convention.  If the IAUFWG decides this would be
> useful, then a mechanism for adding usage comments or recommendations
> could be added to the Registry.
> 
> Bill Pence

Thanks Billl -- that is my main concern.  There seem to be enough
operational difficulties with this convention that I think potential
adopters must be warned, and the caveat language we have right now is very
non-specific.  A FITS reader that does not understand the column limits
convention, for example, would probably not cause any problems.  A reader
that does not understand a FOREIGN extension would simply ignore it.  But a
reader that encounters INHERIT, and manipulates headers with even simple
copy operations, could make a bit of a mess.

It is good to document what is out there, but we do not necessarily want to
encourage its further adoption.

Bob