[Shootout-list] Reboot

[skaller]

On Thu, 2005-07-28 at 15:47 -0700, Isaac Gouy wrote:
> --- skaller <skaller at users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> > > 2) Simpler homepage
> > > Most languages are now shown on http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/
> > > Please publicize that URL
> > 
> > Yes, I like this page better than anything before.
> > However Felix is not in it, can you please add it?
> 
> No.
> 1) Too obscure - no users.
> 2) Too few tests completed.

Thanks for giving the reasons.

(1) How many users do you want, and how exactly do you specify 
a user? 

Felix now has a Debian package in unstable, soon everyone
with Debian will effectively have it: it will be 
on the installation CD/DVDs. That doesn't mean
they'll be using it of course :)

How do you compare this with, for example, MLton
which has hardly any users either? Similarly with
D, which isn't even open source. Neither has a Debian
package.

I do agree that there are not many users, but the
amount of interest is increasing. I think you should
include it for interest.

The fact is, Brent ALREADY decided to do so,
and I have done a lot of work on that basis,
and I do not think you should pre-empt his decision.

(2) This is ENTIRELY unfair. I ask you to confirm with
Brent -- Felix was only one of two languages to implement ALL
but one of the original tests --- I put a LOT of work
into writing those tests, and then the test set got
changed.

So i think this criteria is being applied unfairly:
I am loathe to write more tests given it isn't
included in the main page and not much time has
elapsed since the test set has changed: agree to put 
it in the main page and you'll have an implementation
of ALL the tests (which are implementable) within
one month -- and it will show up quite well now
unlike the original version which did quite badly.

At the moment on amd64, it is FASTER than ANY other
translator on Ackermann, and as fast as the others
on the i386, and for takfp.

A new language has to start somewhere. I am being
very conservative in that I'm building a lot
of the infrastructure, such as Debian package,
Windows installers, performance comparisons,
wrapper generators, libraries, etc .. BEFORE
I start advertising heavily. 

This is not the usual way it happens, but I'm
not very usual :) In particular I did a lot
of work to get the system included in the Shootout,
I want it there *before* I tell people there is
a new system and it is FAST! How convincing
will it be for me to point to the Felix website
to demonstrate that? 

I need the cooperation of other people to keep
this project moving forward. I ask only for the 
chance for it to be judged on its technical
merits. If it performs well on the Shootout,
IT WILL GET USERS -- probably too many too fast
for me to cope with :)

-- 
John Skaller <skaller at users dot sourceforge dot net>

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