James Graham wrote:

> POSIX needs to admit that they made a mistake on this one.  But whom
> could we petition on this matter?

I think the obvious answer is POSIX (the appropriate official designation
for the relevant working group is IEEE PASC/P1003.1a)...

The problem is that IEEE standards are decided by a ballot group who
make their individual decisions based on their assessment of what is
appropriate for their environment or customers. A draft document must
have 75% approval from the ballot group in order to become a standard.
So ultimately, the petition needs to be directed at the ballot group. 

By far the easiest means of convincing the ballot group is to convince
the working group that is resolving ballot comments in an attempt to
reach that 75% consensus level. Their next meeting is in St. Petersburg
FL, on Oct. 15-20. Alternative contact information may be available via
the IEEE Standards Board (try the ieee.org web server).

/sjd