For me the core difference between Open Standards and Open Source is this:
- Open Standards enable companies to compete in a structured way
- Open Source projects enable people or companies to collaborate in a structured way
and continues:
So how does this relate to the JCP discussion?
When companies compete, it is in all their best interests to strongly enforce conformance. However much it might be tempting to "get away" with not implementing a strong set of conformance tests, or not having to go through that testing, the fact remains that standards are worthless without conformance, and so the effort in creating them is wasted without conformance.
So its my assertion that creating a strong set of conformance tests is in the best interests of all parties in a standards body. And I believe the best way to create those is to do it as a collaborative effort. Effectively this is the chance for the participants to get creative about competition. Try to create a test case that proves your competitors system is non-conformant. Collaborate to break each other's systems!
This explains very well the reason why I argue that it is in the vested interests of implementors to collaborate in the creation of good TCKs
