SCOUG-Programming Mailing List Archives

Date:	Mon, 19 Jan 2004 16:54:11 PST8
From:	"Lynn H. Maxson" <lmaxson@pacbell.net >
Reply-To:	scoug-programming@scoug.com
To:	"SCOUG Programming SIG" <scoug-programming@scoug.com >
Subject:	SCOUG-Programming: Where to from here?

Content Type: text/plain

Mark Abramowitz on another SCOUG mailing list waxed
enthusiastically about Jerry Rash's main meeting presentation.
He left before Bob Blair's presentation on parsing in REXX. He
thought that it might have been interesting as well. Give Mark
credit as the master of understatement.

We had touched on a number of different programming
languages recently in the SIG: APL, PL/I, Python, C. When I
saw "Parsing in REXX" announced as a topic at Warpstock
2003 I approached Bob to see if he would like to present his
version of this topic to our programming SIG group. He agreed.
While the main presentation entertained without much
information Bob's SIG presentation informed in an entertaining
manner.

Besides the attendees included more than the usual suspects.
It indicates that REXX has a significant following in terms of
users in SCOUG. I don't know how much of a following it has
in the open source community in general, but I suspect that in
the OS/2 and IBM mainframe users in that community a much
higher interest exists.

Don't count me as a REXX advocate or convert. PL/I has
served my parsing needs just fine when they arose over the
last 38 years. On the other hand when we tally the votes I
know when I sit as a minority of one. I do believe in the
democratic process...right up there with my faith in PL/I.

I did find Bob's presentation informative, as apparently did
other more experienced REXX users in the audience. I found
his method of presentation even more so in terms of simplicity
and effectiveness. In fact I found it quite similar in terms of
purpose to IBM's Tutorial Manager/2, another IBM OS/2
investment that didn't pay off. Both, however, point out a
direction we can take it in increasing the value of our website
to the OS/2 community.

That leads into the recent declaration by Rollin White that he
can no longer support our web services, that we need to
come with some other means, some other people. I have
neither the knowledge or experience currently to render a
proper evaluation of our situation except for my confidence
that we have the resources in terms of hardware, software,
and people to do so.

So I suggest that in order for us to properly support our piece
of the puzzle that we consider assuming support for the
puzzle as a whole. In that manner place SCOUG web services
into the hands of the membership where we deal with our
concerns continually instead of during crises moments.

Whether intentionally or not I think Bob has provided us some
guidelines into producing online tutorials to aid in learning
different programming languages as well as paradigms. At the
same time Rollin has provided us with a reminder that every
volunteer organization needs some means for insuring
continuation of its needed volunteered support.

I depend upon those of you more knowledgeable than I to
frame what we either need or can do into understandable
terms. From there see if we cannot subsume more of the
responsibility for maintaining the SCOUG website. However
low I may reside on the learning curve, I recognize that I have
as much responsibility as anyone else in resolving this, in
bringing myself up to speed.

Any ideas?

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