Tony Cooper
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 13:04:14 -0800, Savageduck <savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com>wrote:

Savageduck
On 2013-11-26 20:51:19 +0000, Tony Cooper <tonycooper214@gmail.com>said:

Tony Cooper
On Tue, 26 Nov 2013 14:54:57 -0500, "J. Clarke" <jclarkeusenet@cox.net>wrote:

J. Clarke
Tony, just a comment here but someone working in IT would typically use "policy" to describe what you are referring to as a "protocol", which could be part the reason that people are being so argumentative.

Tony Cooper
I don't know that usage. I'm not involved in IT in any way, so if there's a jargon use for "policy", then it's new to me.

I'd appreciate a definition of "policy" as it applies to IT work. Preferably, a definition in your own words rather than a link. Link definitions tend to contain references that need definitions.

To me, a "policy" would be a set of regulations that determine how a situation will be handled. A "protocol", though, is a set of steps that will be followed in performing a task. A policy determines what people do, but the protocol determines what a program does.

Correct me if I'm wrong about a policy in an IT context.

Savageduck
A corporate policy when it comes to IT could be anything from "No Apple computers permitted on our network", to "mandatory back-up of current work prior to log off", or restrictions on installing and running non-IT approved software on corporate machines. A company might have a policy requiring mandatory backup, but a protocol has to be executed to implement that policy.

Tony Cooper
That definition I already know about. That type of "policy" is what any business might have, and that includes a business that doesn't have a computer, let alone an IT person.

What J. has said is that IT people use "policy" in place of "protocol" to describe how tasks are set to be carried out by a software program. "Protocol" has more than one meaning. J. Clarke is suggesting that "policy" has more than one meaning, and one of the other meanings is used in the IT field.

One of Protocol's other meaning is deals with "the way things are done by humans". For example, Caroline Kennedy followed diplomatic protocol when presenting her credentials to Japan's emperor.