[ruby-talk:01813] FYI: comp.lang.ruby UVV PQ

In case anyone is curious, this is the comp.lang.ruby Proponent
Questionnaire (PQ) that was just submitted to the Usenet Volunteer
Votetakers (UVV). If everything is in order, we may see a CFV (call for
votes) in a week or so.

Conrad

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SUMMARY:

The consensus seemed to be that the newsgroup name and charter were OK.  The
main concern was whether the level of interest was sufficiently great to
justify a new newsgroup at this time. The comp.lang.ruby supporters provided
recent traffic information about the various Ruby mail lists. There was
discussion among the apparent news.group regulars about how much anticipated
traffic was appropriate to justify a very technical (the comp.lang.ruby
case)
versus a more general and non-technical newsgroup. It was suggested that we
use comp.lang.misc to demonstrate the level of interest, and resubmit the
RFD
at a later time. We began using comp.lang.misc, although a couple of the
comp.lang.misc regulars have quite understandably expressed their
displeasure
with comp.lang.misc being used in this manner.

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PROPOSED NAMES:

comp.lang.ruby unmoderated

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NEWSGROUP DESCRIPTIONS:

comp.lang.ruby          The Ruby dynamic OO programming language.

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PROPONENT:

Proponent: Conrad Schneiker <[e-mail]>

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RATIONALE: comp.lang.ruby

Ruby is a very-high-level, dynamic object oriented programming language.
Ruby
provides many of the best-liked power and convenience features of Perl and
Python on one hand, with an elegantly simple and powerful syntax that was
partly inspired by Eiffel and Ada on the other hand.  Ruby is a more
thoroughly objected oriented language than Python, and some Ruby features
were inspired by Smalltalk. Ruby is an open source language.

There are over 1000 members of 4 Japanese Ruby mail lists (general,
developers, math, extension writers), with a peak volume topping 100
messages
per day. At present, there is one English Ruby mail list with about 175
members, with a recent volume often exceeding 10 messages per day and
growing.  Many users of the Japanese Ruby mail lists have some understanding
of English and are also prospective comp.lang.ruby users as well.

Much of 1999's newsgroup discussion of Ruby took place on comp.lang.python,
which is not optimal, since comp.lang.python is dedicated to the Python
language. For obvious reasons, Ruby users do not post there frequently. In
2000, most Ruby discussion has occurred in comp.lang.misc. This again is not
ideal since other comp.lang.misc regulars are typically more interested in
issues that transcend Ruby, and have said as much.

In Japan, Ruby has overtaken Python in terms of popular usage. During 1999
and into early 2000, Ruby has been featured in several articles in the
English language software trade press, indicating it is at the takeoff
threshold that Perl and Python attained years ago.  (Please see
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/developer/library/ruby.html for the latest
example.) The English language Ruby home page is
http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/, which provides links to documentation and
download pages for Ruby.

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CHARTER: comp.lang.ruby

The comp.lang.ruby newsgroup is devoted to discussions of the Ruby
programming language and related issues.

Examples of relevant postings would include, but not be limited to,
the following subjects:

* Bug reports
* Announcements of software written with Ruby
* Examples of Ruby code
* Suggestions for Ruby developers
* Requests for help from new Ruby programmers

The newsgroup is not moderated.  Binaries are prohibited (except the
small PGP type). Advertising is prohibited (except for announcements
of new Ruby-related products).

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MODERATOR INFO:

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GATEWAYS: comp.lang.ruby

Gateway mailing list name: English language Ruby discussion group
Submission address: [e-mail]
Request address: [e-mail]

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NEWSGROUPS:

Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,
comp.lang.perl.misc,
comp.lang.python,
comp.lang.java.programmer

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NEW CROSSPOSTS:

New Newsgroup: comp.lang.misc
Reason: We have been using this newsgroup for Ruby postings at the
recommendation of the news.group regulars.

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MODERATED NEWSGROUPS:

none

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POINTER MESSAGES:

none

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MAILING LISTS:

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PQ Date Stamp: 980322
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