From: mh@uran.informatik.uni-bonn.de (Martin Honnen)
Subject: Re: RFD: comp.lang.ml
Reply-To: mh@uran.informatik.uni-bonn.de (Martin Honnen)
Organization: Institute for Computer Science III, University of Bonn
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 23:42:50 GMT

In article <1iftpuINN77m@rodan.UU.NET>, jgmorris+@VACHE.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU (Greg Morrisett) writes:
|> First Call, Request for Discussion: comp.lang.ml 
|> 
|> PROPOSAL:  This is a request for discussion on creation of an unmoderated 
|> newsgroup on the topic of the ML family of programming languages. The 
|> suggested name is comp.lang.ml.  
|> 
|> ML is a family of advanced programming languages with functional
|> control structures, strict semantics, a strict polymorphic type
|> system, and parametrized modules. It includes Standard ML, Lazy ML,
|> CAML, CAML Light, and various research languages. Implementations are
|> available on many platforms, including PCs, mainframes, most models of
|> workstation, multi-processors and supercomputers. ML has many
|> thousands of users, is taught at many universities (and is the first
|> programming language taught at some).
|> 
|> Topics for discussion would include (but are not limited to): 
|>  * general ML enquiries or discussion 
|>  * general interpretation of the definition of Standard ML 
|>  * applications and use of ML 
|>  * announcements of general interest (e.g. compiler releases)
|>  * discussion of semantics including sematics of extensions based on ML
|>  * discussion about library structure and content
|>  * tool development
|>  * comparison/contrast with other languages."
|> 
|> There is currently a group for ML in the alt hierarchy, alt.lang.ml.
|> This has the disadvantages of any alt group: narrow distribution
|> (especially outside the US, where much ML development goes on) and
|> fast expiration. Some discussion of ML has gone on in
|> comp.lang.functional and in comp.lang.misc. An ML-specific newsgroup
|> would concentrate these postings and provide a focus for people
|> seeking information about or discussion of the language.
|> 
|> There is also a moderated worldwide mailing list for Standard ML users
|> maintained at Carnegie Mellon University.  We believe there are now
|> several thousand readers of this list. Currently several messages pass
|> through the list each week. We do not propose the abandonment of the
|> list, but an unmoderated newsgroup would take most of the traffic from
|> the list, simplifying the moderation task, and would provide a new
|> forum for questions general to the family of ML languages (not just
|> Standard ML). Submissions to the mailing list will be forwarded to the
|> newsgroup. The mailing list moderator may also wish to periodically
|> select articles from the newsgroup to forward to the mailing list.
|> 
|> The mailing list has also provided us with a FAQ list, which can
|> readily be made into a weekly and monthly posting to the newsgroup.
|> 
|> Comments and suggestions regarding comp.lang.ml should be posted to
|> news.groups, or mailed to sml-list@cs.cmu.edu.  Please indicate in
|> any e-mail message if you'd like it forwarded into news.groups.
|> 
|> -Greg Morrisett <jgmorris@cs.cmu.edu>
|>  Carnegie Mellon University
|> -- 
|> -Greg Morrisett
|>  Moderator, SML-LIST
|>  Requests:    sml-list-request@cs.cmu.edu
|>  Submissions: sml-list@cs.cmu.edu

As not subscribed to the sml-mailing list, i don't know the topics discussed
there, but regarding the topics described above i think there is no need
for a new newsgroup especially for the ML family of languages.

All the proposed topics can be discussed on the newsgroup comp.lang.functional, and i think they should be discussed on this list
because the majority of the members of the functional language community
is interested in functional language topics, as this ML topics are, 
independent of the personal favourite language. 

As you could mention during the discussion of the bfs-tree-traversal
in December 92, (wo)men preferring different notational styles took part,
although the first question was about a SML solution.

If someone wants to focus on SML articles, the newstool gives support for 
this focusing, but the volume of news in comp.lang.functional does not force
a splitting of this group in new groups for single languages.
    

	Martin Honnen
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Martin Honnen
Institute for Computer Science III    EMail: mh@uran.informatik.uni-bonn.de
University of Bonn                     Tel. : 49-2228-550-383
Roemerstr. 164
D-W-5300 Bonn 1
Germany
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