On Thu, Dec 15, 2005 at 01:47:28PM -0500, Christopher Roach wrote: > Here, here. I agree with Mike. The average user--be they newbie or > seasoned lisper--needs a comprehensive website to go to for all of > their information needs with an intuitive interface that is shared by > all parts of the information repository.
To sell the idea of Lisp in the enterprise as well. Running my own company, I can ignore most of the Lisp hurdles we're discussing. However, part of my business is to build applications for clients and transfer enough of my knowledge to allow their development staff to support and tweak the app over the long-term. I've managed to sell such apps written Python and PHP because I can give my clients' developers a three day crash course in the language and point them at *one* URL for all the libraries, tutorials, and reference materials they need. These are reasonably competent developers and quite capable of Googling and clicking links, but that's not what their employers want to see them doing. If the tools I use to build their apps don't provide a one-stop shopping experience, I don't get to build their apps. > I think it would be really great starting point to go ahead and > compile a list of all the great resources for Lisp on the web right > now and get in touch with each one to work out the details of > combining them all into one exhaustive online resource. I believe > that once we've got a good collection of the current resources already > available, and a central website to link to them all (and hopefully to > provide a common contribution envrionment--e.g., Wiki, submission to a > standards group, whatever) it will be easier to see what needs to be > finished, improved, tested, documented, etc. > > So, here is my idea for how we can really get this ball rolling: > > 1) Compile a list of all available, free, online resources for Lisp I think one person should compile and post an initial list of URLs and one-line summaries, rather than everyone spraying their Google hits for "lisp" at the mailing list. Then--in one thread--we can all sift through, refine, and add to the list until we're satisfied. I'm willing to do this if no one else is. Peter? > 2) Get the permision of each author to incorporate their site into a > comprehensive online Lisp resource. I'll 'fess up to a slightly Borg mindset regarding 'incorporate'. I think building a central directory of links--as you suggest and as, I believe, Marc is offering to facilitate--is a great start. In fact, I think it's the only practical way to get started. However, long-term, I would really like to see a consolidation of content and code under one site. I think that's the barrier we have to breach to avoid becoming yet another list of links. See my rant above. > 3) Create said comprehensive resource (consistent design and others > can come later, but for the time being just a central point would be > nice), > 4) Start outlining projects that need help and what needs to be done. > 5) Setup some kind of sign up list for each of the "To Do"'s so that > interested people can commit to helping a particular project > 6) Solve all problems and take over the universe (maybe a bit > ambitious, but you have to start somewhere). In the immortal works of Austin Powers, "Yeah, baby, yeah!" -Mike -- Michael J. Forster Shared Logic Inc. _______________________________________________ Gardeners mailing list [email protected] http://www.lispniks.com/mailman/listinfo/gardeners
