Re: Around again, and docs lead role

[Robert Uhl <ruhl@4dv.net>]

Thamer Al-Harbash <tmh@whitefang.com> writes:
> 
> > To be successful at that, it's useful to have a tutorial,
> > particularly when the language is as odd as a Lisp dialect can seem
> > as first.  Those unfamiliar with Scheme who happen upon Guile are
> > likely to skip past, scared away by the parentheses and lack of a
> > thorough introduction.
> 
> I propose placing a link from the guile page to an on-line copy of the
> Prentice Hall book which is reproduced there with the permission of
> the publisher.

It's my opinion (and I could be _quite_ wrong on this) that users don't
really care about the language/implementation distinction.  They use
Perl; they use Python; they use Common Lisp; they use Guile.  They don't
want to have to keep in mind `this is the core of the language, while
that is an implementation-specific add-on.'  And really, they're kind of
right: just as there is a commonality between Common Lisp and Scheme, so
too there is a commonality between e.g. guile, gambit and SCM--but from
the user's point of view, they're not-quite-compatible & thus different.

What users want, I believe, is not an `introduction to Scheme,' but
rather an `introduction to guile.'  The former tells them about a
language; the latter tells them how to solve their problems.  I'm not
saying that viewpoint is necessarily right or wrong, but it's my
perception of what is in fact the case.

-- 
Robert Uhl <ruhl@4dv.net>
Christ is Risen!  Truly He is Risen!


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