[r6rs-discuss] to the Steering Committee: from Editors to Observers

[Matthias Felleisen]

The authors of the Scheme report, the language implementors, and the  
language users make up a feedback loop. Unfortunately, the process is  
extremely informal and ad hoc, with the common result that we have no  
true institutional memory.

Proposal: I therefore propose to move from an Editor system to an  
Observer system after/if the proposed Report is ratified. The  
Observer board/committee should include implementors and users of  
R6RS Scheme systems. The members should document problem reports with  
the specification. It could also be useful if it were empowered to  
write essay-style SRFIs in response to common and widely observed  
problems.

Rationale: Like all preceding reports, R6RS can't be perfect. If any  
of the previous ones had been perfect, there wouldn't have been a  
need for successor reports with removals, improvements and additions  
of features. We all know that R6RS isn't perfect either. A formal  
Observer committee/board would help collect facts about  
implementation and usage problems, especially for those people who  
target the same program to several Scheme systems. When the time is  
ripe for R7RS, some of these Observers would become Editors and bring  
in the collected experience into the process.

-- Matthias