HELP: RAILS DISCUSSION GROUP

All.  I'd like to submit a REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION for a RAILS
discussion group.  A material amount of the content of this newgroup
deals with RAILS, and as RAILS continues to explode (which it will)..
I would like to see discussions focused in a RAILS group---and thereby
keep the RUBY forum for those things which are RUBY LANGUAGE related.

If you support this notion (or have a better idea..), would you please
drop me an email at: e<removeme>[e-mail].  Edits to the
proposal below would also be appreciated.  If you are interested in
being a PROPONENT (on the petition), please indicate so.  Thanks.
-Erin

              REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
                unmoderated group comp.lang.ruby.rails

This is an invitation to discuss the following proposal to create
newsgroup comp.lang.ruby.rails.

Please note that YOU CANNOT VOTE NOW;  you may be able to vote on a
version of this proposal later.  See the  PROCEDURE section below if
you need information about how the discussion works.

PLEASE POST ANY FOLLOWUPS TO THE NEWSGROUP NEWS.GROUPS.

Newsgroup line:
comp.lang.ruby.rails		Web Framework for Ruby discussion
group.

RATIONALE: comp.lang.ruby.rails

RAILS is a web application framework for RUBY.  RAILS is one of the
most promising and fast growing web application frameworks today--and
is finding increasing acceptance among web developers.  RAILS is a
free, open-source, professional quality web development framework for
RUBY.

There is no dedicated newsgroup for RAILS in the comp.* hierarchy and,
as a result, most of the discussions of RAILS items takes place in the
comp.lang.ruby newsgroup.  It is important both for the RUBY community
at large, and the RAILS community specifically, that a separate group
be established in accordance with this proposal as both RUBY and RAILS
expand.  Now is the time to create a newsgroup specifically for the
rapidly growing RAILS and RUBY user communities.

CHARTER: comp.lang.ruby.rails

This newsgroup comp.lang.ruby.rails is a technical discussion forum
for the RAILS web development framework for RUBY.  All topics that
pertain to using or learning RAILS are on-topic in this newsgroup.

Posting of promotional material of any kind to comp.lang.ruby.rails is
explicitly prohibited.  Posting of binaries is not permitted, with the
exception of small digital signatures such as PGP.

END CHARTER.

PROCEDURE

When an RFD appears, it begins a process called the newsgroup creation
process.  The first stage of that process is the discussion period,
and that's the stage that's now in effect.

During the discussion period, the object is indeed to discuss whether
this proposal should be enacted, and to discuss any potential problems
with it and how to resolve them.  Because the RFD has a Followup-To
header pointing to news.groups, discussion will be posted there.
Therefore, if you want to be heard in the discussion, you should post
your own posts in news.groups too.  Similarly, if you want to read the
discussion, you should be prepared to read it in news.groups.

During the discussion period, the proponents may issue new drafts of
the proposal, perhaps with major changes:  "2nd RFD", "3rd RFD", etc.
Please do not assume that these will be the same as this draft;
please make a point of reading each, if you wish to avoid surprises.

Following the discussion period, there may be a second stage, called a
voting period.  This cannot begin until 21 days after the first
RFD, *and* 10 days after the last RFD.  The proponents decide whether
to ask for a voting period.  If a voting period is requested by the
proponents, then a neutral vote taker will post a Call For Votes, or
CFV, whose appearance begins the voting period.  The CFV will contain
instructions on how to go about voting.  You cannot vote until the CFV
appears.  If you want to be sure of seeing any CFV, but you don't want
to read the discussion, you may wish to subscribe to
news.announce.newgroups, a low-volume group consisting mostly of RFDs,
CFVs, and related posts.

For further information about this process, please see "Guidelines for
Big Eight Newsgroup Creation" in news.announce.newgroups.  This post
tries to obey all guidelines in that post and in "How to Format and
Submit a New Group Proposal".  Please refer to these documents if you
have further questions.

DISTRIBUTION:

The RFD has been posted directly to the following newsgroups:

news.announce.newgroups
news.groups
comp.lang.ruby

Proponent: ...