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Locating the 1275-1994 Standard Document

Q: Many of the Technotes and other documentation on the Apple Developer web site that talk about Open Firmware mention that the core specification is available for purchase at the IEEE Web site as ISBN Number 1-55937-426-8. (The specification's formal title is: IEEE Std 1275-1994: IEEE Standard for Boot Firmware (Initialization Configuration) Firmware: Core Requirements and Practices.)

The documentation also states that the IEEE 1275-1994 document is only available from the IEEE Standards Association.

I have been to the IEEE Web site and have searched, but could not find this document. What has happened to the IEEE 1275-1994 specification?

A: IEEE standards have a lifetime of 5 years, after which they require some action. There was an attempt to get a balloting body formed that could give it another 5 years, but there wasn't enough interest. So, the standard was officially withdrawn, which means that IEEE will no longer supply it.

This does NOT mean that the IEEE 1275-1994 standard has been abandoned or that implementation of the standard has ceased at Apple. It simply means that the standard no longer resides at the IEEE Web site.

The IEEE 1275-1994 document, in its entirety, can be purchased at the Global Engineering Web site:
http://global.ihs.com/

A document search of Global Engineering's web site, using "IEEE 1275" as a partial document number, found the document.

[Jul 17 2000]

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