[TUHS] TUHS Digest, Vol 33, Issue 5

[Bakul Shah]

On Aug 6, 2018, at 6:06 AM, Noel Chiappa <jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu> wrote:
> 
>> From: Steve Simon
> 
>> well spec'ed machines where more common in the past.
> 
> Err, engineering data is not the same thing as a formal specification. If not,
> almost every computer built could be said to have a 'formal spec' - there
> usually are engineering documents for anything that was produced in any sort
> of quantity.

What counts as a "formal spec"? Is it like Justice Potter Stewart's
"I know it when I see it" definition or something better?

> Also, whether said engineering info is publicly available or not (which seems
> to be another of your observations) is an orthogonal axis.

Agree.