Here's an interesting model for collaboration which the Caml folk are taking up. Simon -----Original Message----- From: Michel Mauny [mailto:Michel.Mauny@inria.fr] Sent: 26 January 2001 21:38 To: caml-list@inria.fr Subject: Consortium Caml -- [ English version below ] --- Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to announce the creation of the Caml Consortium, whose aim is to federate the design and development efforts around the Caml programming language. The Caml Consortium will therefore try to bring together, around the language development team, industries, research centres and educational establishments interested in contributing their support to the design and development of the language and related tools. Comprising a group of highly-motivated users, the Consortium will be the place where the members can identify their common requirements, exchange their experiences and solutions, and co-operate to propose a particular development of general interest. One of the Consortium's roles is therefore to be a place where users of the language can meet and exchange information. It is here that a true community will be created with the specific intention of assisting in the development of the language and to provide it with such a visibility that this community will expand by itself. The motivation and industrial importance of its members will also attract companies to the Consortium which want to be present on the Caml applications and training market. Another role of the Consortium will therefore be to attract new members, whether they are users of the language or service providers. Finally, the Consortium will provide a response to the question on the language's continuity. The essential elements for the continuity of a programming language are the continuity of its compilers (or their free availability), its user base, and the volume of existing (stable) codes. The success of the Caml Consortium will make it possible to measure the user base and the volume of the existing Caml code. As for the availability and development of the Caml compilers, these are already freely distributed with their sources. If INRIA decides at some point to withdraw from Caml development, and therefore to dissolve the Caml Consortium as it presently stands, the members of the Consortium will be sufficiently numerous, they will have sufficiently diversified profiles, and the market for the language will be such that the members of the Consortium will have no difficulty in continuing the existence and development of the language. INRIA will facilitate this transition, which is in the general interest. For more information, I suggest that you consult http://caml.inria.fr/consortium/ Best regards, -- Michel Mauny