Nan:Octave-rfd
From Usenet Big-8 Management Board
From: Himanshu Singh Chauhan
Date: Tues, May 16 2006 7:20 pm
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, comp.soft-sys.matlab
REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
unmoderated group comp.soft-sys.octave
This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of the
unmoderated Usenet newsgroup, comp.soft-sys.octave.
NEWSGROUPS LINE:
comp.soft-sys.octave (TBD)
RATIONALE: comp.soft-sys.octave
This new newsgroup "comp.soft-sys.octave" will be a forum for discussing
application and development issues related to the use of GNU Octave, the
free, open-source software package for doing numerical computations. GNU
Octave is very much similar to the commercial application "MATLAB" (from
the MathWorks) in its syntax and function.
GNU Octave does not have any single roof for discussion. New users
are daunted at the very onset of their exposure to Octave due to its
complexity (e.g., the 350 page manual). This group will serve as a
central, standardized meeting place for the discussion of GNU Octave which
will allow the exchange of ideas and flow of information on all aspects of
GNU Octave by users of all experience levels.
The establishment of a GNU Octave usenet newsgroup will leverage the
NNTP standard, which is a commercially independent and well-established
standard that will provide a forum that is free from manipulation and
advertisement (unlike many web-based forums) for all discussion of
GNU Octave and will be easily interfaced from any usenet news client
application.
Because of Octave's syntactical resemblance to MATLAB(R) (from Mathworks,
Inc.), users read the Matlab newsgroup (comp.soft-sys.matlab) to watch
for a look-alike solution to their problems. Thus the establishment of a
separate Octave newsgroup will partition Octave issues from Matlab issues
and reduce off-topic questions in the Matlab newsgroup. Related questions
have also appeared in comp.dsp
Development issues such as crashes and errors that might not otherwise be
reported can be posted here. Developers can scan the group for problems
and post possible fixes or workarounds.
A mailing list exists for GNU Octave (help-oct...@octave.org), but it is
busy with development-related tasks. The daily general and application-
specific issues can be more accurately dealt with a separate newsgroup
for GNU Octave.
The name comp.soft-sys.octave seems to be an appropriate choice.
This newgroup is meant for quick exchange of information about GNU Octave
so the moderation of the group isn't necessary.
CHARTER: comp.soft-sys.octave
General GNU Octave questions and its application to specific fields such
as digital signal processing, digital communications, medical imaging,
etc., as well as development issues such as bugs, fixes, workarounds,
etc., in the main Octave kernel as well as developer- and user-supplied
scripts (.m files) which extend Octave's functionality.
The general issues include:
* Addressing new user queries.
* Exchange of source code in public domain, especially .m scripts.
* Addressing the applications of GNU Octave in various fields.
Usage Specific in fields like Signal Processing:
* Exchange of public domain source code to strengthen the signal
processing part of GNU Octave.
* Addressing the beginner to advanced queries regarding various signal
processing related function available with GNU Octave, as built-in or
as separate packages.
END CHARTER.
PROCEDURE:
The newsgroup creation process is currently undergoing revision. Please
refer to the newsgroup creation policies listed here:
http://www.big-8.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=policies:proposals
All discussion of this proposal should be posted to news.groups.
DISTRIBUTION:
This RFD has been posted to the following newsgroups:
news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, comp.soft-sys.matlab
PROPONENT:
Himanshu Singh Chauhan <hs.chau...@gmail.com>
HISTORY:
2006-03-15 Reformatted by Tim Skirvin for posting as an RFD.
2006-03-14 Submitted by Himanshu Singh Chauhan.
