From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id NAA29732; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:56:08 +0100 (MET) X-Authentication-Warning: pauillac.inria.fr: majordomo set sender to owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr using -f Received: from concorde.inria.fr (concorde.inria.fr [192.93.2.39]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id NAA29403 for ; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:56:07 +0100 (MET) Received: from mail1.tpgi.com.au (mail.tpgi.com.au [203.12.160.57]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.11.1/8.11.1) with ESMTP id h1OCu5T18195 for ; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:56:06 +0100 (MET) Received: from ozemail.com.au (syd-ts20-2600-127.tpgi.com.au [203.213.127.127]) (authenticated (0 bits)) by mail1.tpgi.com.au (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id h1OCu0S10331 for ; Mon, 24 Feb 2003 23:56:01 +1100 Message-ID: <3E5A1660.9020605@ozemail.com.au> Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2003 23:56:00 +1100 From: John Max Skaller User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:0.9.2.1) Gecko/20010901 X-Accept-Language: en-us MIME-Version: 1.0 To: caml-list@inria.fr Subject: Re: [Caml-list] OCaml standard library improvement References: <200302241103.MAA17811@gnome.at.coli.uni-sb.de> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr Precedence: bulk It's not enough to just start a sourceforge account. Some strict policy is needed for managing contributions. The C++ Boost is an example of an informal collaborative effort and is worth looking at. The Library Working Group of the C and C++ ISO committees are another, and are also worth considering. Basically: the last thing a standard library needs is a huge set of ad hoc functions added with overlapping functionality and confusing naming schemes, argument passing protocols, etc. One mechanism to handle this is for each developer to work on a CVS branch, and conduct a discussion and vote on including the branch in the mainstream. One or two trusted people should perform the actual merging when they think there is consensus the branch is ready and suitable for inclusion. One of the virtues of the current ocaml library is that it is relatively small and covers a reasonable amount of territory. For the record, the C++ LWG had a policy of considering proposals which had one of two properties: 1) it provided important functionality which was hard for the client to code up correctly 2) it provided a simple convenience which would be heavily used Any proposal degrading performance needed exceptionally compelling arguments to be accepted. The process resulted in a couple of bad decisions, but it also resulted in a reasonably small and consistent library. Anyhow, I'd urge people pause before 'contributing code' because that isn't important. The key thing is to create a policy document that clearly states the project goals, and to apply the policy strictly. -- John Max Skaller, mailto:skaller@ozemail.com.au snail:10/1 Toxteth Rd, Glebe, NSW 2037, Australia. voice:61-2-9660-0850 ------------------- To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/ Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners