CFV: comp.lang.lisp.mcl

[meehan@Pa.dec.com (Jim Meehan)]

[This has been posted to news.announce.newgroups and comp.lang.lisp.
It is being mailed to the info-mcl mailing list for the benefit of
those who do not have "news" access.]

              **************************************************
               CALL FOR VOTES * CALL FOR VOTES * CALL FOR VOTES 
              **************************************************

This is the FIRST call for votes for the creation of the newsgroup
comp.lang.lisp.mcl.

Please read all of this article carefully prior to voting.  The proposed
group is as follows:

NAME:
    comp.lang.lisp.mcl

STATUS:
    unmoderated

CHARTER:

The purpose of this newsgroup will be to provide a forum for talking
about any and all aspects of Macintosh Common Lisp (MCL).  MCL is,
specifically, the software product from Apple, an implementation of
Common Lisp for the Macintosh.  This is NOT intended as a forum for
discussion of other implementations of Common Lisp for the Mac. 

VOTING PROCEDURE:

Mail your vote to:  meehan@src.dec.com

Do *not* post your vote to the net.  The wording must be explicit and
unambiguous.  I would prefer that your message use one of the following
Subject lines:

  comp.lang.lisp.mcl: YES
  comp.lang.lisp.mcl: NO


DEADLINE:

Mail your vote on or before Monday, July 8, 1991.  Votes received after
that date will not be counted.


COMMENTS:

The protocol for creating a newsgroup requires that there be 100 more
YES votes than NO votes, and that at least 2/3 of the valid votes be
YES votes.

During the discussion, which started on June 4th (see news.groups),
two concerns were raised by several people.

    First, discussions of MCL currently take place via a mailing list,
    info-mcl@cambridge.apple.com [to which this Call For Votes is also
    being mailed].  The list is maintained by the Apple/Cambridge
    office.  Some members of that mailing list are unable (or prefer
    not) to receive news, and they expressed concern about losing access
    to MCL discussions, the implication being that the mailing list
    and the newsgroup were mutually exclusive.

    In fact, both can exist, and this proposal says nothing about
    shutting down the mailing list.  (Nor, indeed, could it).
    Practically speaking, however, no one wants two separate forums
    for this discussion.  Fortunately, several of the responses to the
    RFD pointed out various ways to "link" the mailing list and the
    newsgroup, and the Apple office fully intends to do so, so that
    no one will be cut off from the discussion simply because they don't
    receive the news.  Since the size of the mailing list has grown
    dramatically, they are indeed hoping that there will be a newsgroup
    and that most of people now on the list will not need to remain
    on it.

    The second concern was for the name of the group.  I received
    several good suggestions for placing the proposed group in the
    comp.sys.mac...  hierarchy.  However, there was no agreement on
    exactly what the full name should be.  Many readers of the
    comp.sys.mac...  groups found the name "mcl" to be confusing, or
    at least not informative, and they suggested "lisp" as an
    alternative suffix.  But others pointed out that "lisp" would invite
    discussion of other implementations of Lisp for the Mac, and that
    is NOT the purpose of this newsgroup.  A very long name, such as
    comp.sys.mac.programmer.lisp.mcl, would probably be specific enough
    for all concerned, but the length was a problem for some.  In the
    end, I stuck with the original name, which I felt had fewer problems
    than the alternatives.