I'm posting three different replies to Bryans post, because I think
there are three different issues that ought to be kept separat:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
"We" - a different, but overlapping we - are currently trying
to push the ABC standard forward.
A committee set up with no reference to the wider ABC community.
The committee surely should have stated their mandate clearer here at
abcusers. It seems quite a few people have the impression that it's just
a bunch of people who have decide on their own to take matters in their
own hand.
But it shouldn't be too late to correct that though, so here's a short
history (I might have gotten a few minor details wrong):
When Chris Walshaw announced his withdrawal from the abc development
work a while ago, he oficially appointed John Atchley as the new "keeper
of the ABC standard". John didn't want to have that responsibility
alone, so he persuaded Laura Conrad to join him in the work (I've got a
feeling she didn't need too much persuation ;)
The two of them then set out to recruit committee members.
In other words: as far as it is possible to have a clearly founded
mandate in such an anarchistic environment as the abc community, the abc
standard committee's got it.
John and Laura decided to recruit committee members among the most
active posters at abcusers. Honestly, I can't see they could have done
it any other way. I'm sure there are lots of other abc users out there
who could have done a marvelous job, but since they choose to stay in
the background, we have no way of knowing about them.
They also had senses enough to ask people in private rather than
starting a discussion at abcusers. (Just imagine how *that* would have ended!!!)
I was one of the people who was asked to join the committee, but I
declined, suggesting they should concentrate on the major abc developers
instead, and that's more or less how it happened.
With hindsight I might agree it wasn't the perfect solution. Among other
things it left Jack Campin and - as far as I know - Robert Bley-Vroman out.
On the other hand, it made it far easier to set up the committee, and -
even more important - it drastically increased the probability that the
abc developers actually would follow the new standard.
In any case, although I'm sure I wasn't the only one to suggest a
committee of major developers, I'm willing to take the blame. So if
anybody has any problems with it, please send any flames to me
privately. No need to bother the whole list. (I already get so much
spam, it won't make much difference to me ;)
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If anybody feels left out, please remember that a committee has to have
as few members as possible to be able to work efficiently.
Besides the committee is *not* the main forum for developing the abc
standard. The abcusers mail list still has that function.
So we just keep on discussing abc improvements here. The only difference
is that there is now somebody to gather all the pieces and make
something coherent out of it afterwards. Just like Bryan, I'm not
convinced it'll actually work. But we have to give it a try. There
doesn't seem to be any alternatives.
Frank Nordberg
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