In article <3p4mti$m8i@hustle.rahul.net>, rfg@rahul.net says...
>
>In article <KANZE.95May2191120@slsvhdt.lts.sel.alcatel.de>,
>James Kanze US/ESC 60/3/141 #40763 <kanze@lts.sel.alcatel.de> wrote:
>>
>>|> I post here because comp.std.c++ is OPEN.
>>
>>I suppose that the "highly technical and somewhat selective" group is
>>the standards committee itself...
>
>Not really.  They let any jerk in who either has the cash or who can
>convince some low-level government official that National Pride(tm)
>demands participation.
>

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Why is your isolated "jerk" from some "dumb country" (in your words..below)
any different than some "jerk" from some company in let's say...New Jersey?

Have you considered the fact that *in the past*, institutions like
universities and research labs were "structured" to create a high barrier
to entry so that only the "rich" could get in. Your degree (and pedigree)
mattered more than your intelligence. In some cases, people's parents
could buy them degrees. How is that different from above where you claim
"cash" can be used to buy your way into the ANSI C++ committee.

With networking, there is very little need to join a world famous research
lab to interact with the "best" minds in Computer Science. Those minds are
now wired into the net. You can reach them without having to live in New
Jersey....:)

In my opinion, there is no such thing as a "dumb country". Also, we are
placing far too much trust in OLD institutions. Those old institutions
are populated by old people that are NOT part of the new generation on
the net. If we allow them to dictate future directions and to dictate that
rules that make it such that only the "rich" get to play, then many people
will be denied the opportunities that the net was designed to provide.

By the way...if you do not believe me...browse through the AT&T Annual
Report....http://www.att.com...for starters....:) Note, the people
mentioned do not provide e-mail addresses. Most are in their 50's and
60's. Also, the AT&T Code of Conduct showcased in the report is violated
every day by the developers of C++.

Also, if you have time, browse through the AT&T Bell Laboratories section
of that Web server. See if you notice anything missing from their timelines.
(When UNIX and C were sold, was the history sold with it?) Note...C++ is
of course showcased....:)

Also, if you have a lot of time...browse through the Press Releases...
note that there is no mention of C++...Plan 9 is mentioned...also the
Microsoft deal is mentioned...

BTW...the A in AT&T no longer stands for American....:)

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>I suppose that I can deal with the fact that no IQ tests must be passed
>before a person is allowed to be the national representative of some
>dumb country that otherwise doesn't give a darn about C++.  But I
>really _do_ wish that the committee could expunge one particular
>representative for his continuous and distinctive lack of brevity,
>and his concominant public displays of foot-in-mouth disease.
>--
>
>-- Ron Guilmette, Sunnyvale, CA ---------- RG Consulting

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Would you be in favor of having people's IQs posted as part of their
Usenet subject lines?

How about their age?

What if a 16 year old develops a better programming language than C++?
Is it discounted because it was not done in New Jersey...?

What if a 12 year old develops a better class library?
Is it discounted because it was not done in New Jersey...?

How old were the great music composers in their productive years?

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[only one newsgroup left - the one I was reading]

In article <3p83lt$o2r@News1.mcs.com>,
Jim Fleming <jim.fleming@bytes.com> wrote:
>How about their age?
>
>What if a 16 year old develops a better programming language than C++?
>Is it discounted because it was not done in New Jersey...?
>
>What if a 12 year old develops a better class library?
>Is it discounted because it was not done in New Jersey...?
>
>How old were the great music composers in their productive years?

It depended.  Mozart wrote music very young, if this is what you mean.
However, he wasn't an engineer.  His music didn't have to conform to any
business requirements.  A programming language, in contrast, is work of
engineering.  There existed mathematics, chess, and music prodigies, but no
engineering prodigies - a kid just cannot know what the real world out there
needs.

Incidentally, when I was under 15, I was inventing all sorts of fun things
about programming languages.  Most of them already existed - value-result
parameters, for example, but some - I still think are quite good - for example,
associating a boolean variable with loops that is instantiated when the loop
is exited from, and is equal to true if the exit was normal, and false if it
was through a break statement.

Now, Mr. Fleming, the C++ standards newsgroup is full of your postings that
are equally irrelevant.  How come?

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