[erlang-questions] Erland users group (was re: languages in use? [was: Time for OTP to be Renamed?])

[John Kemp]

On 02/15/2014 09:06 AM, Steve Vinoski wrote:

[...]

>         There is a relatively recent industrial Erlang users group that
>         includes
>         major users of Erlang outside Ericsson and also includes the OTP
>         team.
>         It meets several times per year and has already had influence on
>         helping
>         open Erlang to a larger community.
>
>
>     I think Pieter does have a relevant point about this
>     (standardization related to growth of the actual community).
>
>
> I'm guessing you've never been involved in a standards committee.

Heh. I'm glad you are just guessing about that :)

> Having
> spent years working on various standards, I can assure you they are
> intensely political and are pretty much just an enormous waste of time.

 From the point of someone _making_ the standard, I can see that, 
especially if the standard turns out not to get the widespread adoption 
that rewards the effort. I know that feeling.

> (I was once involved in a heavily politicized standards effort with
> Pieter, in fact, and both of us were extremely frustrated with the whole
> thing.) I honestly can't see how bringing standards into the picture
> will help Erlang in any way.

Well, a mechanism for increased interest and adoption is one way. An 
organization that dispels any myth that Erlang/OTP is "controlled" by 
Ericsson might be another benefit.

>
>     How does this "industrial Erlang users group" relate to that? Or the
>     EEP process? Are these things related, and/or, should they be?
>
>
> See https://erlangcentral.org/industrial-erlang-user-group/ for more
> info on the IEUG.
>
> The group is relatively new. It's unrelated to EEPs, though I suppose if
> there were an EEP the group deemed important I guess it might choose to
> help push it along.
>
> In addition to helping provide funds for marketing Erlang, one area of
> work of the IEUG to date relates to how the OTP team works with the
> Erlang open source community. The OTP team looks to continually improve
> in that area, and the IEUG has advised them on that front and will
> continue to do so.

Thanks. Very helpful.

- johnk

>
> --steve