RFD: comp.lang.ruby

[Conrad Schneiker]

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

This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of of
an unmoderated group comp.lang.ruby.  This is not a Call
for Votes (CFV); you cannot vote at this time.  Procedural details are
below.

Newsgroup lines:
comp.lang.ruby		The Ruby programming language.

RATIONALE: comp.lang.ruby

Ruby is a relatively new very-high-level language developed in Japan.
Ruby is a dynamic object oriented programming language that 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 also
an open source language. There are over 1000 members of 4 Japanese
Ruby mailing lists (general, developers, math, extension writers),
with a peak volume topping 100 messages per day. At present, there is
only one English Ruby mailing list with about 125 members, with a
recent volume of 5-10 messages per day; however this should approach
the traffic level of the Japanese lists as more English-speaking
people learn Ruby and as English language Ruby documentation continues
to become increasingly available.  A survey of DejaNews shows 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.  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 in the realm of the takeoff threshold that both Perl
and Python attained many 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.

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).

END CHARTER.

PROCEDURE:

This is a request for discussion, not a call for votes.  In this phase
of the process, any potential problems with the proposed newsgroups
should be raised and resolved.  The discussion period will continue
for a minimum of 21 days (starting from when the first RFD for this
proposal is posted to news.announce.newgroups), after which a Call For
Votes (CFV) will be posted by a neutral vote taker.  Please do not
attempt to vote until this happens.

All discussion of this proposal should be posted to news.groups.

This RFD attempts to comply fully with the Usenet newsgroup creation
guidelines outlined in "How to Create a New Usenet Newsgroup" and "How
to Format and Submit a New Group Proposal".  Please refer to these
documents (available in news.announce.newgroups) if you have any
questions about the process.

DISTRIBUTION:

This RFD has been posted to the following newsgroups:

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

and the following mailing list:

  ruby-talk at netlab.co.jp (English language Ruby discussion group)
          Subcribe via: ruby-talk-ctl at netlab.co.jp
          ('subscribe first_name last_name' in body)

Proponent: Conrad Schneiker <schneiker at jump.net>