"Well, Stanley,here's another nice mess you've gotten us into."

[hal@ZOHAR.AI.MIT.EDU (Hal Abelson)]

Over the past two months there have been a number of discussions, on
and off of this mailing list, concerning a proposed Scheme
standardization effort.  

Clyde Camp has proposed standardizing Scheme through IEEE, but there
is apparently some sentiment for a closer connection with Common Lisp
and X3, and there is also sentiment for not standardizing Scheme at
all.

Many RRRS-AUTHORS (including me) have not contributed to this
discussion, presumably because we were confused/bored/indifferent.  I
think that it's time for a real discussion to start.

1. People who have something to say about this issue should mail their
comments to all of RRRS-AUTHORS.  Outrageous flammage is welcome,
as always.  My main concern is that if (and I do mean IF) a
standardization process is to begin, then it should begin with a
proposal that is made on behalf of the RRRS-AUTHORS as a group.

2. I think we should have a meeting sometime during the next two
months, whose agenda is to discuss the standardization issue and to
produce a plan for standardization, if that is the decision of the
group.  Given the political nature of this discussion, it is unlikely
that any technical work is going to get done, so this meeting should
be in addition to a technical meeting that would take place later,
presumably in conjunction with the Lisp conference in July.

Some issues to be discussed:

   Do we want to endorse a Scheme standardization process?

   What is the appropriate standards organization?

   Who is going to do the work?

Would anyone like to volunteer to host the meeting?