An open standard is a specification whose description is freely available, e.g., HTML, XML. This means that developers are free to create applications which are valid according to the specification and which will therefore work with software designed for it. It is recommended best practice to use open standards and open source software, since documentation so created has the best chance of being intelligible to future generations.
Refers to a published standard that is made freely available to any person or business.
a specification to enable interoperability or portability developed through a consensus process
As defined on September 13, 2004 at http://www.perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html, a specification whose licensing ensures that it is publicly available to implement, that it maximizes end-user choice of vendors and implementations, that it does not require a royalty or fee to implement with the potential exception of compliance certification, that it does not discriminate against vendors or implementations, and that it permits extensions or subsets that are consistent with the standard yet may preclude predatory "embrace and enhance" practices.
A computer or communications standard whose technical specifications are readily available to equipment manufacturers and other parties that want to incorporate the standard into their products or systems.
As used in the TRON Project, a standard for a piece of computer software or hardware that can be used by any firm without the payment or royalties or license fees.
n. A publicly available set of specifications describing the characteristics of a hardware device or software program. Open standards are published to encourage interoperability and thereby help popularize new technologies. See also standard (definition 2).
Open standards are publicly available and implementable standards. By allowing anyone to obtain and implement the standard, they can increase compatibility between various hardware and software components, since anyone with the necessary technical know-how and resources can build products that work together with those of the other vendors that base their designs on the standard. Many technical specifications that are sometimes considered standards are proprietary rather than being open, and are only available under restrictive contract terms (if they can be obtained at all) from the organization that owns the copyright for the specification.
