Re: SLUG library

[Mabry Tyson <TYSON@WARBUCKS.AI.SRI.COM>]

Paul (and SLUG):

I understand that the you are doing the librarian service temporarily until
a permanent librarian steps forward and that you already are doing lots of
other things for the silent majority of SLUG, but I was wondering about
library submissions.

I have a MARGIN NOTES system (well, 1 file) that uses the (top) margin
of the console (sorry, MacIvories are not supported!) for an extra
screen.  In this screen I put small windows that are used for a variety
of purposes.  They can be used for indicating what editor buffers are
modified (and, under usual conditions, clicking on the little window
will put you into the appropriate buffer), whether I have new mail (a
click gets you into ZMAIL), what telnet windows I have open (a click
selects the appropriate telnet).  Notifications that can't be displayed
on the selected window (eg, you are in a TELNET window) are usually
displayed in the margin.  (Large notifications -- more than 4 lines --
are not displayed).  Some people here use them as a different way to
select various activities (rather than SELECT-mumble).  I also have a
background process that checks the site for hosts or mailers that are
down or for network problems, etc.  Problem notices are put into the
small windows.

There is no Symbolics code in what I have so I don't have a problem with
it getting prior Symbolics approval.  However, I don't really want to release
it upon the world without getting a few more sites running it so that I
know it works fairly reliably (there was an unexpected interaction with the
color system that I didn't expect).  I could just give it to the SLUG library
now but I would like some beta sites if anyone is interested.  (Most people
in my group use it and its been around for a couple of years.)

So, if SLUG wanted to add this code to the library (and a new tape would
be forthcoming soon), I could submit it but I'd rather wait until it had
a little more testing.

(Please, if anyone wants to beta test, reply to only me.  I make no guarantees
of letting you beta-test and I make no guarantees about the code or that I
will fix problems found.  (Isn't that the standard disclaimer?!))