CFP: Scheme Implementors Workshop

[Alan Bawden <Alan@lcs.mit.edu>]

   Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 14:36:51 -0500 (EST)
   From: david carlton <carlton@math.mit.edu>
   First, I should say that I think this whole thing is being blown way
   out of proportion.  The CFP says:

   + The purpose of this workshop is to bring together the major
   + implementors of Scheme in order to review the state of various
   + Scheme implementations and to assess alternatives for the continued
   + development of Scheme. 

You may remember that I quoted this very sentence myself at the end of my
last message and prodded the organizers to offer some clarification.  I
agree that this isn't much of a description to hang any interpretation on.
I'm hoping that the organizers will clarify its meaning soon.  (The sooner
the better, because if we're going to have to hold a separate workshop for
Scheme Users, we need time to prepare.)

   ...  If some people can't get together to talk about Scheme without
   others raising a hue and a cry, something's really wrong.

Look, I make my living programming in Scheme.  It pays my mortgage.  It
puts food on my table.  It keeps me warm in the winter.  Now these guys say
they want to get together to "assess alternatives for the continued
development of Scheme", and apparently users such as myself aren't invited.
This doesn't immediately give me a nice warm fuzzy feeling.  

If we get an official statement from the workshop organizers that says that
they do not intend to do more than make some recommendations, I'll be
somewhat happier.  (I still won't be completely happy, because what they
-intend- and what actually happens are two different things.  Being the
implementors, they really do have a fair amount of control of the language.
Their "recommendations" can easily become de facto standards.)