Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk2.iso/std_unix/volume.16/text0032.txt

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From: John S. Quarterman <[e-mail]>

The USENIX Association, a non-profit educational and technical organisation,
sponsors a series of reports on standards activities, published in the
USENIX newsgroup comp.std.unix and in ;login: The Newsletter of the USENIX
Association.  These appear quarterly, after each IEEE 1003 meeting.
Related reports may appear in trade journals or other appropriate venues.

These reports are largely derived from reports of volunteers on the
USENIX Standards Watchdog Committee, who monitor each of the IEEE 1003
subcommitttees and some related committees, such as the X3J11 C
Standards Committee.  We are planning on expanding coverage to other
groups, such as the /usr/group Technical Committee.

The editor of these reports since their inception has been Shane P.
McCarron.  He has just begun a new job with UNIX International and
his new work responsibilities make continuing editing these reports
difficult.  I would like to thank Shane for his excellent reports and
for the large amount of time he has spent on them.

A new report editor is needed.  I will shortly repost a summary of the
duties of this position, but essentially it involves collecting reports
from the Watchdog Committee and editing them for publication as part
of a set of reports giving context and information that does not appear
in the minutes of committee meetings nor in other kinds of standards reports.
We want to know what happened in a given meeting, but more importantly
we want to know what the issues were, what history lies behind them,
and what effects decisions made or not made might have.  An editorial
voice is also needed, and the editor is expected to raise issues that
need to be voiced, even if they might be controversial.

The position has a small associated stipend per report.  Since the work
has grown greatly with the success of the Watchdog Committee, the
remuneration will increase from a pittance to a paltry sum.  The exact
amount is no secret, but I would prefer applicants to be willing to
consider the job before knowing how much it is.  I can promise that no
one will get rich off of it, and this is not something to be remotely
considered as a full time job.  Travel and other expenses are not
generally reimbursed, although the remuneration may be enough to
cover attending the quarterly IEEE 1003 meetings.

The basic prerequisites are literacy in writing English, technical
literacy in areas related to the UNIX Operating System, and familiarity
with the standards process.  The last of these may require that the
editor attend IEEE 1003 meetings.  Access to electronic mail and
intimate familiarity with its use is indispensable.  Willingness
to espouse controversial views in public is necessary.  This does
not preclude tact, which is also required.  An editor who does not
work for a large vendor might have an advantage, but intellectual
independence is more important.

All reports are subject to review by someone delegated by the USENIX
Standards Policy Committee (currently me) acting as publisher.
Ultimate review authority lies with the Board of Directors of the
USENIX Association.  But we want someone who can act without intrusive
oversight.

Anyone interested may please apply by electronic mail to <[e-mail]>
or uunet!usenix!jsq.  I will not be at the Minneapolis IEEE 1003 meeting
next week, but the Standards Watchdog Volunteer Coordinator,
Marc Tietlebaum <[e-mail]>, will be there.
Interested people please feel free to talk to him.  He will have
copies of relevant material for you to peruse.

In addition to applications, we are interested in hearing from
people who have opinions about these reports, either about reports
that have already appeared or about possible future directions.

The last reports edited by Shane will appear shortly.

John S. Quarterman
USENIX Standards Policy Committee
<[e-mail]>

Volume-Number: Volume 16, Number 30