spell@seq.uncwil.edu (Chris Spell) (06/19/91)
Call For Votes
comp.sys.palmtops
comp.sys.hp48
comp.sources.hp48
comp.sys.handhelds
Background
Comp.sys.handhelds has served a wide variety of systems with only one
unifying attribute: the ability to be held in the outstretched hand.
While numerous systems have been discussed in this group, the vast
majority has been about calculators based on the HP Saturn processor,
and of late, the HP48SX. While in some respects the HP48 was an
evolutionary product, in others, it was revolutionary, particularly in
the ability to exchange programs electronically. This permitted large
programs to be disseminated over the net, without the need to rekey
them.
Another development which has been both evolutionary and revolutionary
has been the availability of increasingly sophisticated organizers and
DOS handhelds. While these systems may seem to be as much "handhelds"
as the HP calculators, there seems little of common interest between
the users of machines such as the Sharp Wizards, Casio BOSSs, etc. and
the HP48 users.
It has thus become apparent that some reorganization of
comp.sys.handhelds was necessary. Over the past three months, this
discussion has simmered (indeed, boiled over), and two areas of
consensus have emerged:
* A moderated group for sources, which will be predominantly
HP48, would be a useful asset.
* The organizers/DOS handhelds do not fit well in the current
handheld group.
Another point has become the focus of much rancor:
* The HP48 is sufficiently different from all other machines,
and has sufficient user base to warrant its own group
In order to resolve the issue, the vote will consider three groups,
permitting an unambiguous resolution. It should be noted that it also
permits some ambiguous resolutions as well, but life's full of choices,
isn't it?
A realativly unknown issue about comp.sys.handhelds is that it is not
an official Usenet newsgroup. I think that if we are going to keep
handhelds, we need to vote on it to make it an official Usenet
newsgroup. I'm not sure why it has never become an official Usenet
group, but I'm told that it is only an inet group.
Charter comp.sys.palmtops
This newsgroup will contain all discussion related to any
machine classified as a palmtop. The Wizard, BOSS, HP95,
the rumored Sony/Mac machine, that new CMOS Cray (the one with
antigrav units) are considered palmtops.
Charter comp.sys.hp48
This newsgroup will contain all discussion pertaining to the
HP48 calculator and accessories. HP28 discussion is also
invited and welcome. Anything that is normally posted to
comp.sys.handhelds about the HP48 should be posted here with
the exception of programs in any form. Programs should be
posted to the source group, assuming that it passes.
Otherwise, all programs will be posted here.
Charter comp.sources.hp48
This moderated newsgroup will contain all program postings
and anything that needs to be archived. All programs can
and should be posted here. It will not matter if they are
rpl source, assembly source, uuencoded binaries, asc encoded
binaries, or any other format that might come up in the
foreseeable future. It would be good to post large
documents like the internals list here for archiving and to
keep the bytes down in the discussion group. This is not a
requirement, only a suggestion.
Each posting will contain rkive(1) headers so that rkive(1)
can be used to automatically archive each posting.
Hopefully the sites that archive comp.sources.* will also
archive the HP48 source. There will be at least one archive
site, seq.uncwil.edu.
Each posting will also contain a version number so that it
will be much easier to keep track of newer versions and to
purge old versions.
Since most HP28 programs run on the HP48, they are welcome. The
postings will be identified by HP28 in the subject line of each
message.
The moderator will be Chris Spell (spell@seq.uncwil.edu)
until such time as he decides to name a successor.
Charter comp.sys.handhelds
This newsgroup will contain all the same postings the inet
group contains of the same name. Voting on this will just make
comp.sys.handhelds an official Usenet newsgroup. Nothing else
will change. If the vote fails comp.sys.handhelds will just remain
an inet only group.
How To Vote
The vote will be patterned after the reorganization of rec.ham-radio.*
Please edit and send in the ballot below. Each ballot will be stripped of
all but the From: line and the lines containing valid votes by an automatic
process; I won't see any comments included. No individual acknowledgments
will be mailed. Votes will be acknowledged en masse in a posting one week
prior to the close of the voting period, and complete vote results will be
posted on as soon as possible following the close of voting.
For each proposal, indicate your choice of a yes vote or a no vote by
placing a Y or N, respectively, at the beginning of the line. The first
character on the line that is either a Y or an N (case doesn't matter)
will be counted as your vote on that proposal. You may abstain from any
particular vote by deleting the line entirely from the ballot. An invalid
line (one not containing a Y or an N before the "Proposal #n:" tag) will be
treated as an abstention, as well. Mail the completed ballot to
vote@seq.uncwil.edu
THE BALLOT:
===========
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? Proposal #1: Create comp.sys.palmtops
? Proposal #2: Create comp.sys.hp48
? Proposal #3: Create comp.sources.hp48
? Proposal #4: Change comp.sys.handhelds from inet to official Usenet group
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Voting Period
Voting will start with the appearance of this message in
news.announce.newgroups and officially end 11:59 (EST),
July 12, 1991. All votes sent before or after the official
start/end date will not be counted. All votes must be sent to the
specified address. All votes utilizing creative/free form structure
will be discarded. All votes posted will not be counted.
Sponsors:
Chris Spell spell@seq.uncwil.edu
Jeff Mandel mandel@vax.anes.tulane.edu
--
spell@seq.uncwil.edu thebeach!spell@seq.uncwil.edu