Hans Aberg writes:
 > The idea of an ISO LaTeX is in fact not very good because the standard must
 > be charged to pay for the salaries of the ISO bureaucrats. It means that
this is true, but not universal (see DSSSL). still, ISO standards are
a good thing, because they have *some* credibility for independence,
editing, and longevity. I'd rather have an ISO standard than a W3C
one, since

 + the membership of W3C entirely depends on companies buying their
   way in
 + the membership is largely US-based
 + their standards of writing and editing are lax
 + they change the things as it suits them
 + would _you_ trust people with hair that long :-}

sebastian