[fitsbits] updates to the FITS standard document

[THIERRY FORVEILLE]

> 
> > 2) a task force within the IAU FITS WG has been considering the inclusion
> >     of a number of registered conventions as part of the standard.
> > 
> >     For 6-7 of them we have (or nearly have) a text to be included in
> >     the FITS Standard Document. According to the rules, this will be
> >     subject to a Public Review Period here on FITSBITS, with the goal
> >     to have the IAUFWG vote (on each convention) during July.
> > 
> >     Considering that the conventions are in use since several years
> >     (so their operablity and interoperability is surely proven), and
> >     were discussed when registering the conventions themselves, to
> >     speed up things the Public Review Period will be reduced to 3 weeks.
> 
> Noting that the process of registering conventions was concerned only
> with ensuring the adequacy of their documentation, not the adequacy of
> the conventions themselves, I just want to clarify whether we are being
> asked to consider adopting these conventions, unaltered, as standards,
> or whether they are subject to change.
> 
> In particular, I note that the INHERIT convention attracted more than
> the usual amount of discussion on fitsbits and iaufwg, with many
> respondents expressing strong reservations about it.  At the urging of
> its proponents, INHERIT was ultimately registered as a convention on the
> basis of its wide usage within a particular sector of astronomy, not
> necessarily as the model for a new component of the standard.
> 
> With eight years worth of hindsight, the links accessible from
> http://fits.gsfc.nasa.gov/registry/inherit.html make for interesting
> reading.  It seems clear now that those members of the FWG who took an
> interest should have been allowed to record a short summary (say 150
> words) of their arguments for or against the conventions.
> 
I share Mark's concerns, and at least at this stage I intend to vote NO 
on the less obvious of the conventions becoming part of the standard. 
Every addition to the standard has a cost in FITS readers that must
be balanced against what it gains us, and some of the conventions
don't make my cut.