Re: CLHS vs. free CL documentation

Jean Louis wrote:
> I think there is free version being made and other
> sources for documentation.
> 
> Maybe something like
> http://clqr.boundp.org/source.html

This text covers between 5% and 10% of CL. Development stopped 2 years ago.

> Something like this maybe:
> http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/ai-repository/ai/lang/lisp/doc/standard/ansi/0.html

This text is not a good basis for free documentation. It was taken (stolen,
you might say) from the ANSI standardization without permission by the
ANSI bodies. Maybe it is not legal to distribute it at all. Later, Kent
Pitman negotiated the license of what would become the CLHS with ANSI.

> Or like this
> http://jtra.cz/stuff/lisp/sclr/index.html

This text covers between 1% and 3% of CL.

> It is better putting effort to make a free
> documentation for Common Lisp and provide such to
> users.
> ...
> GNU software or free software shall not drive the
> users to non-free documentation in my opinion

I disagree. Of course, it would be better if ANSI CL would have been
distributed as free documentation; this would have made it possible
for the clisp documentation to be distributed as a single coherent
body - rather than as an "implementation notes" part that refers to
a standard in hundreds of places.

But the fact is:
  * The unity of Common Lisp (i.e. the similarity of behaviour of
    Common Lisp implementations, which translates to portability of
    Lisp code) is caused by the fact that people (especially the
    users) *can* and *do* look at the CLHS frequently.
    Therefore you do NOT serve the users if you tell them not to
    look at the CLHS.
  * Through the pointers that you have given above, you have shown
    that creating a free Common Lisp documentation is a multi-
    person*year effort, that none of the existing projects are
    going to achieve in the next 10 years.

Bruno


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