When is a standard not a standard?  Technology users are
pondering that conundrum more and more as the industry moves to
technology standards. Most are administered by a standards body,
such as the World Wide Web Consortium, to ensure
interoperability between disparate systems.  But some of the
most common formats in computing veer away from the standards
process in one way or another, creating a nebulous area of "de
facto standards" that mix democratic ideals with corporate
concerns.  As a result, these technologies are testing long-held
assumptions about the standards process.  Some of the most
common examples--such as Microsoft Office and Adobe document
formats, Flash Web animations and RSS blogging--map out a
changing battleground between proprietary and open publishing
models. The ideals of open software and readily interoperable
standards are pitted against the drawbacks--slow-moving
standards bodies and a feared design-by-committee mentality--and
the advantages of proprietary software, which include sp