Re: what to do

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

   From: Tom Lord <address@hidden>
   Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 02:09:01 -0700 (PDT)

          well, you've suggested some sound engineering initiatives.
          why not spearhead those efforts given the current state
          (code/people/momentum)?  these initiatives -- i'm thinking of,
          specifically, more rigorous performance testing, and
          generally, more structured design process --

   See "a new run-time for Scheme implementations", posted to this list
   on 26-July-2001.  The largest obstacle is a lack of funding.  The
   obstacle after that is recruiting the core team.

you are not interested in working w/ the current state, i take it?

as someone who has cofounded (and sold ;-) a processor design company, i
can spew on about funding and recruiting at some length, but suffice to
say that strict ordering of funding before people before execution is a
hard row to hoe, requiring almost complete buy-in at every step (any
doubt, no matter how insignificant, easily blocks progress).

in any case, as a potential investor (alas, i doubt my skills would be
judged sufficient to be on your core team), could you tell me about your
funding process and/or progress?  also, is your resume (especially
relevant management positions) available?  if you prefer, my GPG public
key is at:

   http://www.glug.org/people/ttn/gpg-key.txt

as for how this relates to guile, i have a feeling that if your company
creates a useful run-time, guile developers would be happy to try it out
(perhaps through a ./configure option).  the readline library serves as
precedent, here.  the current momentum is very precious and i would be
surprised to see people sacrificing it completely w/o some resisitence.

re-reading the above-referenced post, it seems you want to do a sumo
move on the whole run-time -- not just libguile, but libc as well.  what
kind of feedback have you received from glibc developers?

also, a side comment: although having complete control of a project is
nice in many ways, personally i have become quite critical of those in
such a position since mishandling of power (especially by the untrained)
is the likely tragic outcome.

        personally, i'm looking forward to you sharing your experimental
        methodology that resulted in your above conclusion [that the
        Guile project is putting around the design space aimlessly]

   You are interpreting the word "experiment" incorrectly.  My
   dictionary has: "2. To try something new".

trolling is a venerable art form that everyone should practice at least
once in their life...

thi