gnubol: Consensus and team structure

[Tim Josling <TIMJOSLING@prodigy.net>]

RKRayhawk@aol.com wrote:

> I do not think that we have a consensus to commit to allowing a swapped
> sequence on the conditional clauses.

If it's not in the standad and there's no other reason for it, I am going to
remove it from the grammar I coded (for some reason I had it in there, probably
from SC4). It is a one line change. I'm not sure if having it there with a
diagnostic creates problems or not.

On consensus: Ultimately people will write code and others will borrow and or use
it based on whether it is useful to them. This is a kind of competitive market.
The contributions of this team are enormously valuable, but I am not sure
consensus is the right word for what needs to happen. I think I have shown a
willingness to take on board suggestions however.

I never officially joined GNU COBOL, and I described myself in the
comp.lang.cobol as a 'fellow traveller'. Ultimately this doesn't matter as long
as we all contribute code and ideas and move forward. Leadership can evolve as
people establish willingness to contribute and show the soundness of their ideas.

This brings to mind a problem. Numerous people have stated an interest in
contributing. Several people suggested pick an area (validating PIC strings for
example) and do it. But none of them have contributed any code. Why? Are we not
giving enough direction or structure, or do they think we are not going anywhere,
or are they too shy to expose their (imperfect - like my code) code to scrutiny/
How can we encourage contributions?

Possibly having something that actually does something that is soundly based will
help. Any other ideas? I would be interested in some specific feedback from
people who are interested in contributing as to what they would need to be
provided with. If you are out there and you need a spec, you only need to ask. I
can give you a small task so you can see if you like it and we can see what you
can do.

Perhaps it might be a good time to ask who is out there and what contribution
they want to make and what skills they have. I do not mean that in the sense that
people 'should' contribute at all. If anyone wants to contribute in whatever way
they can (whether for being language experts, experts in compiler technology,
documentors, users, designers/coders, ideas people, etc) that's good. If they
just want to observe for their own amusement or education that's good too.

> No doubt executables of the minimum grammars are just around the corner,
> which speaks volumes about the contribution and personal sacrifice...
> Bob Rayhawk

I am too old do be doing things I don't enjoy. That's why I'm doing this.



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