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From: wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: Off BASIS
Message-ID: <9008271928.AA29723@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 27 Aug 90 18:02:41 GMT
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Reply-To: wmb%MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM@SCFVM.GSFC.NASA.GOV
Organization: The Internet
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> It would seem, from the recent postings about the distribution policy
> for BASIS13 that the committee is trying to inhibit, not prevent, the
> wide dispersal of the proposed standard.

I haven't sensed any such undercurrent.  I suspect that it is more an
issue of trying to keep things from getting out of control.  In the
short time interval that a particular Basis is valid, attempts to
convert it to a multiplicity of formats have a high probability of
causing confusion.

It's a tradeoff.  On the one hand, decentralized distribution appeals
to one's sense of democracy and fairness.  On the other hand, it is
likely to result in so many different versions that it's hard to know
what you have.

A similar situation exists with GNU EMACS.  There are so many versions
of it floating around at Sun that it's hard to help people solve their
problems.

What I'm saying is, the policy to control the distribution format does
not necessarily imply a desire to inhibit wide dispersal.

Another example: I am the author of a shareware Forth product for the
Atari ST (Forthmacs).  I allow people to copy it, post it on bulletin
boards, etc, subject to the constraint that they may not distribute
incomplete or modified copies without my express permission.  That is
not an attempt to limit distribution; on the contrary, my interests are
served by maximizing distribution.  It is an attempt to keep the
package stable enough that I can help people when they write to me with
questions.

Mitch