From: bounce-back@uunet.uu.net  (Michael Maurer)
Subject: CFV: comp.soft-sys.matlab
Organization: STAR Lab, Stanford University, California USA
Distribution: fj
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1992 22:59:33 GMT
Return-Path: <apollo-list-errors@srvr1.engin.umich.edu>

This is a formal Call For Vote on the creation of a new newsgroup
called "comp.soft-sys.matlab" (not moderated).

[ This Call for Votes has appeared in news.announce.newgroups as
  required by the guidelines for USENET newsgroup creation. 
        David Lawrence, moderator, news.announce.newgroups ]

RESULT OF DISCUSSION
  The RFD for this group was originated by Michael Maurer
  <maurer@nova.Stanford.EDU> and was posted in news.announce.newgroups
  on 13 November 1992.  Discussion in news.groups and via private email
  has been very favorable to creation of a Matlab group of some kind.
  Two major issues were raised:
	  1) the appropriate name of the newsgroup
	  2) whether the groups should be limited to MathWorks Matlab

  1) Consensus has it that 'comp.soft-sys.matlab' is the most appropriate
  name for the new group, despite some misgivings.

  2) Participants were about equally split whether to expand the
  proposed charter to include software packages similar to MathWorks
  Matlab or derived from the original public domain Matlab.  As a
  result, the charter has been slightly modified to welcome a moderate
  amount of such discussion.

  Finally, the voting period will be extended from the proposed 21 days
  to 30 days.

                            CALL FOR VOTES
                            --------------

NEWSGROUP:
  comp.soft-sys.matlab

STATUS: Unmoderated

RATIONALE: (discussed in RFD: see <BxnGHn.F8u@uunet.uu.net>)

CHARTER:
  The newsgroup 'comp.soft-sys.matlab' is a forum for discussing issues
  related to the use of Matlab, the scientific calculation and
  visualization package from MathWorks Inc.  This includes discussion of
  similar software packages which are also derived from the original
  public domain Matlab, such as Xmath from Integrated Systems Inc.

CONTENT: 
  Appropriate discussion in the group will include both general
  Matlab issues and platform-specific questions, and discussion
  comparing Matlab to other systems.  Some examples:

  General Matlab issues
	Answers to novices' questions, with an evolving FAQ
	Exchange of public-domain Matlab source code
	Use of commercial toolboxes (advice, bugs, etc.)
	Implementation of numerical algorithms
	etc.

  Platform-specific issues
	Graphical output
	Interface to external programs
	etc.

  Comparison to other systems
	MATRIXx/Xmath, and to a lesser extent Mathematica, AVS, Khoros, etc.

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS AND ADDRESSES:
   All votes should be sent to
          matlab-vote@nova.Stanford.EDU [36.10.0.123]

   "Yes" votes (in support of the formation of comp.soft-sys-matlab as 
   described) should contain a line of the form
       "I vote YES for the creation of comp.soft-sys.matlab."

   "No" votes (in opposition of the formation of comp.soft-sys-matlab as 
   described) should contain a line of the form
       "I vote NO for the creation of comp.soft-sys.matlab."

  Variations in subject line format and message body will be accepted 
  as long as the intent is clearly expressed.

  Voting Rules:

    - One vote per person. If you vote more than once, only the *last* of 
	those votes will count.  Therefore if you change your mind about
	the vote, you can send a new vote, which invalidates the old vote,
	as long as it is within the voting period.

    - Ambiguous votes will be invalidated.
	Ambiguous votes contain neither YES nor NO, or contain both,
	or are conditional, such as "I vote ... if ..."

    - Votes posted to any newsgroup will NOT be counted.

    - According to the USENET rules, in order for the new group to be created,
	at least 2/3 of the votes must be "YES", and there must be at least 100
	more "YES" votes than "NO" votes.

    - For more details on the voting rules being followed, refer to article
	<spaf-howto_715578991@cs.purdue.edu> in news.announce.newgroups.
    
VOTING PERIOD:
  Votes will be collected for a period beginning when this CFV is
  approved for publication in news.announce.newgroups and ending on
  Thursday January 7, 1993, at 23:59 GMT.  (If that period is less than
  21 days or more than 31 days, the voting period will be extended to a
  full 21 days or reduced to 31 days, respectively.)  Votes received
  after the expiration of the voting period will be discarded.

  You may change your vote at any time before the expiry of the voting
  period by simply submitting a new vote.  The last vote to be cast by
  any given individual before the end of the voting period will be
  counted; earlier votes cast by that individual will be discarded.

  Votes will be periodically acknowledged in news.announce.newgroups,
  without revealing how each person voted.  At the end of the voting
  period, a final acknowledgement will be made showing how all people
  voted.  If the group passes the vote and no serious objections are
  raised during a 5 day waiting period, the group will be created.
-- 
______________________________________________________________________
Michael Maurer          maurer@nova.stanford.edu        (415) 723-1024
Newsgroups: fj.mail-lists.apollo