Three thoughts on the MDC revival, and I think it an excellent idea, one that MUST be pursued, and must occur, if the M language might survive. And I think it should. But,if you wouldn't mind a comment offered with the humility of someone who knows he has been much less involved than you all.
1. Notice that a primary comment by Kolodner was "lack of M programmers". That statement needs to be recast to, "M isn't taught in colleges". Think about how to get the language into the curriculum. Solving that problem will give momentum to other things that are needed. The MDC had only a few people working on that problem, I can remember only a few, and those efforts weren't given much priority. We do need educators in the organization. There was a message early on in this chain about the importance of education (Arden's), and the conversation moved on, too quickly I think, to healthcare and the VA. 2. Which brings up the following observation. The medical field cannot be the solitary focus of efforts. Banking has (or had) a huge investment in M. That was good, and was always underplayed. How did that happen, and why? Remember, SNOBOL and APL were good languages too, but you never hear of them anymore. Sure, yes, there is the VA, and that VistA applications are open source is a huge consideration, but when you read government press interviews, keep in mind that that there are political considerations within the VA that aren't really about M or Java, although they might be framed as such. The VA finds itself in an awkward position of having competed with the private sector (and even worse, won slap down), and now has a conservative leadership who thinks that this represents at least three of the seven deadly sins. The VA's need to abandon support for VistA goes far beyond questions of computer language. The question really asks "How can it be that a government healthcare organization is writing or has written applications that compete with the private sector?" And that question is then too easily reframed into "What is a benefits organization (and that is what the VA really is) doing in the healthcare business?" These problems can't be asked in a way that will direct one's attention to the real problem. It is a little too much like talking about a serious family problem. The VA now will waste millions (CoreFLS and Peoplesoft) to prove it had not sinned. And it cannot ever prove it. 3. You have to ask, "Would any past MDC chair take the job back?" (and I can't imagine it) Or, "What is the incentive of someone to chair this group?" (and I have a hard time seeing it). I remember watching the incredible agony experienced by passionate and bright MDC chairs, by political squabbles, no-win situations, and observing that the job of being chair had little reward and lots of punishment. Having that position on one's resume should become a really good thing, not something that would cause concern about one's sanity. A revitalized organization cannot be "like the good old days." Using the model of other standards groups (in previous comment by Richardson) is an excellent start. And here is a new idea, the leadership of this group has to be protected and appreciated, not manipulated and abused (and that is how I saw it). ------------------------------------------------------- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://productguide.itmanagersjournal.com/ _______________________________________________ Hardhats-members mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hardhats-members
