ANNOUNCE: Haskell Communities and Activities Report (1st edition)

[C.Reinke@ukc.ac.uk]

Hi Eray,

> >   http://www.haskell.org/communities/
> Why don't you use something like Wiki for this purpose? It would be more
> appropriate, developers could add their project whenever they'd like.

more appropriate? I doubt that, somehow.. wikis are good for letting
many contributors add things anytime they want, but they tend to build a
tangled web of information fragments. There's nothing wrong with that,
but it works best when you either follow the updates continuously, i.e.,
when you take part in the evolving discussion, or when you are willing
to comb through a web of links for some package of information. Wiki's
tend to be less helpful to those who just want to get an overview of the
field, or of other than their own threads (or who simply prefer longer,
coherent documents that remain stable while you read them:).

> For instance I've got two haskell codes that I've put some work in but I
> wouldn't really like to announce anything until I've got an alpha out.

That's fine - there is a wiki at haskell.org, and it is open for use
(there are even plans to haskellise it;-). It does have an entrypoint
for projects under construction, IIRC. Once you are ready to announce
things more widely, there are the various Haskell-related mailing lists,
with new ones being created as the need arises. Just pick the one most
suited for your projects. And unless the projects are very short-term,
you'll want to put them and some context information or documentation 
on the web - make sure that the project page is reachable from haskell.org.
Just send John or Olaf the URL, a short description, and the category in
haskell.org where your project fits in (again, new categories are being 
created as necessary). There is really no shortage of channels to distribute
information about Haskell-related projects.

The Communities Reports are meant to complement all this, and in
particular, to give those who do not have time to follow the increasing
number of Haskell-related channels continuously a chance to get an
overview of developments every now and then. The six-month cycle also
serves as a reminder for everyone to bring their own web pages, and
their entries at haskell.org, up to date again. So the goal is to make
things easier for the consumers, not for the contributors of
information, and to condense information in space and time. 

The chosen form achieves this goal by providing a focus in space (you
don't have to gather info from several places) and time (you don't have 
to wonder whether the info you want is not yet published or out of date).
The only way to make this work is by the good-will of contributors.
In return, they get another forum to advertise their work, and to look 
for collaborations (and a push to make that old announcement;-).

Between the reports, and for more detailed information, haskell.org is
the place to go: everything Haskell-related, be it URL, mailing list,
wiki, report, or whatever, should be reachable from there!

Claus