What is the definition of "standards"?

[Jakob Petsovits]

On Monday, 1. December 2008, Joe Krahn wrote:
> The first definition of standards at dictionary.com is:
> "something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis
> of comparison; an approved model."

That's exactly the issue:
Some fd.o specs are generally agreed upon, while others are more like 
proposals without cross-desktop implementation or even general consent.
Plus fd.o is not an authority, it's merely a platform to discuss and host stuff 
that should (if all goes well) be shared across desktops.

Although, didn't someone propose a distinction between specifications that have 
generally been agreed upon, and specifications that have not?

Anyways, that was the reasoning afaict. Wishes,
  Jakob