GeoServices REST RFC

OGC Seeks Comments on GeoServices REST API Candidate Standard:

Using this API, clients, such as a web browser application, issue requests to resources on the server identified by structured Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). The server responds with map images, text-based location details or other representations of geospatial information. From a services perspective the API offers a mechanism to interact with map, image and feature services and perform geospatial analysis. This JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)-based, RESTful API is intended to make implementing servers instantly usable by developers working with widely used REST-based scripting and programming languages, as well as mobile platforms. End users can then use these developers' Web applications to discover and access the services and use them in their workflows.

Widely used REST-based scripting and programming languages? Really? As someone said to me last night, this is remarkable handwaving even for a standards organization. Has the meaning of REST diffused entirely into the void? My enthusiasm for reading the candidate standard is a little dampened, I must say, and it was soggy to begin with. This is all another reminder of how "Standards are Great, but Standardisation is a Really Bad Idea."