trolfs@vax1.tcd.ie (Tommy) (07/21/89)
Since I posted the proposal for comp.lang.forth to have a monthly
"Welcome" posting (which would also have some answers to commonly
asked questions), I have being thinking further on the subject.
It occured to me that this posting, being a good idea for
introducing newcomers to the newsgroup and Forth, would NOT be a
good way of providing information to newcomers about the Forth
community and about Forth related topics in general. This is because
there would be too much information in one posting, which would make
it very big, therefore hard to manage and not nice to use.
A better way to provide information, be it of general interest or
specific topics, is to set up an on line information service (OLIS).
I asked Jack Woehr (otherwise known as Jax) what he thought of the
OLIS idea. His response was very encouraging and has prompted me to
"go to the Net" on it. So here here is a proposal of the idea.
Please mail me your comments.
****** O L I S ******
On Line Information Service
The Aim.
The primary aim of OLIS would be to provide novices and
intermediate Forthers with access to information which will aid
their explorations in to Forth and the Forth community.
: Question ." What's a good book to learn Forth with?"
." What Forth's are available for my computer?"
." Forth?, what's Forth when it's at home?"
." Sounds interesting, but what's it used for?"
." What OOF books or papers are there available?"
." What all this about Forth chips?"
." FIG? What's food got to do with things?" ;
: Answer ." Simple, ask OLIS" ;
The Set Up.
The simplest way to implement OLIS is to have an automated
mailing service which will send files on request. It should be
easy to use and reliable. I am at the moment I'm trying to work
out a way to get this implemented. The problem is I don't have the
resources. ***If anyone has any ideas then please let me know.***
The Files.
The files, which will contain all the goodies, will be divided
into different topics. If any file gets too big then it can be
broken down into smaller ones with more detailed headings. A list
of all the files can be requested at any time. A file can be
simply requested by mailing the appropriate command. Of course,
OLIS hasn't been implemented yet, but when (if) it does, the
commands will be as simple as possible.
Source Of All This Knowledge.
All this useful information is hopefully going to come from
knowledgeable people on the Net. I'll post a separate article on
this subject in the near future, when it looks like OLIS will be
implemented. The idea is that people should submit articles and
scraps of information, which they feel might benefit others.
Maintaining The Files.
Deal with that when we get there. Whatever way the files will be
handled, it will be, again, as simple as possible.
Welcome To Comp.Lang.Forth Posting.
The Welcome to comp.lang.forth posting is still a very
important thing to have. Not only will it introduce people to the
group, but it will also introduce them to OLIS and therefore give
them access to a wealth of knowledge (unheard of in any other
group). It will also call on Forthers to pass on information that
they come across to OLIS. Thanks to Marc de Groot for the
immediate offer help in getting a Welcome posting done. I would
like to hear from people if they have any ideas as to what should
or should not be in the Welcome posting. I think, at the moment,
it will just be a short description of what the group is used for.
Let me know what you think, especially if you are in agreement
with OLIS and/or Welcome posting. **Just mail a yes or a no**. It
would be nice to know if there is a demand (however small) for
this service.
--
Tommy E-mail: trolfs@vax1.tcd.ie
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