Formal comment #97 (enhancement)

Provide another formal comment period once the spec has settled down
Reported by:	Michael Lenaghan

Component:	other 
Version:	5.91

Description

Reading through the Editor archives it appears that 5.91, the publicly
available version of the spec, doesn't reflect where things stood when
the formal comment period was opened. Furthermore, current Editor
discussions aren't available, so it's impossible to know what has
happened in the last two months. There's nothing wrong with any of
that, but it means of course that we're commenting on something other
than the current version of the spec.

Recommendation

Ideally the Editors should open one last formal comment period when
they are happy with the spec and don't expect any further changes on
their side.

RESPONSE:

The 5.91 draft reflects where things stood when the formal comment
period was opened.  However, a number of changes have been decided
upon, based on the discussion and on new insights the editors have
gained.  It's unclear whether the comment is based on the assumption
that the next draft will be the final draft of the R6RS.  This is not
the case: at least one draft beyond the next draft is planned.

Currently, the timeline for R6RS as agreed upon by the editors and
steering committee is:

9/15 5.91 released, comment period opens
11/15 comments on 5.91 close
12/15 editors' responses to 5.91 comments (through 11/15)
1/15 5.92 released; comment period opens

3/15 comments on 5.92 close
4/15 editors' responses to 5.92 comments
5/15 5.93 released

The editors may decide to release additional drafts between 1/15 and 5/15,
in which case the 5/15 draft may actually be have a different digit in the
last place.

Once the 5/15 draft is released, the steering committee may decide to
finalize the draft or restart the review process, per the Scheme
Standardization Charter.