[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

SLUG-89

    Date: Fri 9 Jun 89 11:57:08-PDT
    From: TYSON@Warbucks.AI.SRI.COM (Mabry Tyson)

    Unfortunately I'm not going to make it to the national meeting of SLUG
    this year as I have in the past....
[...]
    Since I'm not going to be there, I thought I'd make some of my thoughts
    public at this time.
[...]
    SLUG: As everyone must know, Paul Pangaro, as Rich Cohen was before
    him, has been the driving force of SLUG.  He has overseen many
    details, presented issues to Symbolics, and generally managed the
    whole organization.  As was the case when Rich was president, the
    support of the membership has been somewhat spotty.  Some people help,
    most just sit and imbibe the benefits.  Paul can help me with this but
    those that come to my mind as deserving special recognition are
    Barry Margolin, Glenn Adams, and Richard Billington.

I appreciate what Mabry has said, and agree that these names deserve to
be recognized. Also on my list are Bill York, Bill Anderson, and Rusty
Johnson, SLUG officers and contributors all; but Mabry too must be
recognized and thanked for his flawless support and maintenance of the
SLUG e-mail lists at SRI, and on-going psychological aid.

    I think the SLUG organization is generally solid but we do need more
    participation.  We desparately need a librarian.  I hope someone will
    step forward at the national SLUG meeting for that position and for
    the other positions as well.

Mac Michaels has been our model Librarian for many years now, and has to
step down, and with reluctance, only because he is losing his LISPM. As
Mabry says and I must emphasize, we very much need help in all facets of
SLUG activities. The SLUG-89 meeting is an excellent starting point for
those who wish to be involved, but this e-mail list is also available
for anyone desiring to be involved. Any offer for aid will not go
unnoticed, and saying what you can/want/wont/prefer to do is perfectly
fair. The SLUG officers will also, from time to time, make specific
requests for specific aid as it arises. I hope you will respond.

    The SLUG electronic mailing list continues to grow and is quite active.
    Personally, I'd like to see some more exchange of code over it.  Some
    issues (such as bug reports to and fixes from Symbolics) are not yet
    resolved.

Due to Reza Seddigh, our liaison from Symbolics, Inc. to SLUG, and
others inside Symbolics that I do not know, the legal means for users to
exchange patches among themselves and via e-mail is completely agreed.
But bug reports and patch distribution via e-mail is a long-standing
point and although the conversation continues, resolution of the need is
not yet here. This remains, however, one of the few requests for
specific aid asked of Symbolics over the last year that has not been
fulfilled.

The more that individual users speak of what they need, the more likely
we all are to have it. Comments, complaints, questions, needs directed
to this SLUG e-mail mailing list and slug-liaison@ai.sri.com 1does0 have
the ear of the users and of Symbolics. But unless we clamor, and
persist, there is no assurance of response. It is also important that
issues raised by one user are supported by a (relatively) common need,
because a single voice in the wilderness, with an isolated problem of
obscure circumstances, may not deserve response. Unified voice is an
essential 1raison d'etre0 of SLUG.

    The future:  Remember SLUG is for the users.  It is completely appropriate
    for us to discuss whether or not Symbolics platforms are what we should
    be using and how they can be better.  It is appropriate that we discuss
    how the work that we have done on them can be best utilized by our
    customers (whether those be external to our companies or within).  This
    includes porting issues (to other Lisps or other languages) as well as
    the desires that we don't have to port (eg, Genera on a Sun or RT or Vax).

I cannot agree more. I sincerely believe that the past year lays the
foundation for more hope, and more1 potential0 change, than any year in
Symbolics history. Making that change consonant with the needs of users
is the responsibility of every user, whether at SLUG-89 or not.

Us users, who are we? What do we need?2 Remember: the Symbolics you speak
to now is a (somewhat) new Symbolics!

0My thanks to Mabry for the time and care he has (again) taken on SLUG's
behalf. 

Best,
PANgaro