|
Abstract: In 1985, when
the Common Lisp Group began its effort to convert itself into an official
standards process in the USA, there were already structures and
processes in place for Lisp standardization within ISO. In other words, by
the time X3J13 was formally created
in 1986, the destiny of Common Lisp at the international level was already
fixed as a matter of fact. X3J13 efforts included technical and international
activity, not an effort for the US policy alone. There is a perception that
the Common Lisp Group, and later X3J13, excluded international participation,
I believe this is not true. At the same time, X3J13 had roles as a technical
group and as a political group supplying international representatives
directly to
ISO.
The introduction of CLOS in the middle of the standardization process was the
source of failure and success both. The failure was that this caused the road
map toward ISO defined in 1986 unusable. French government approached Japan
in 1986 and asked them to join.
France had had a clear national goal and a more systematic approach to
achieve it's goal than the US or Japan. ISO is numbers. Europe has
more. Japan cares the ISO stadard. X3J13 got involved more by the
introduction of the discussion on the Lisp1/Lisp2 issue.
Similar story might happen for the people who get success in the
technological inovation and try to make it as a widely used one on this
globe, after they got over the entreprenourship bar.
|