WTF? The Lisp Directory at linkit may have some issues to be worked out, but a) it was written *very* quickly and has never attempted to advertise otherwise, and b) appears receptive to suggestions.

I think that what has transpired with the whole Reddit debacle is a bit of a shibboleth for the Lisp-using community. I really feel that the community hasn't had enough of a reason to band together, an issue that has led to stagnation, duplicated effort, and a perception among outsiders that Lisp doesn't have the same sort of user-base and resources available with other languages. On the other hand, what is happening as a response to Reddit has the potential to be a boon for the community, providing a common purpose and high-profile material for discussion.

I could be wrong, but I think that collective *positive* effort is what is called for here.

I have to agree with John here. The ugly URLs will like as not be near useless, as you cannot point people to "take a look at this" with them. (I'm assuming they're akin to continuation IDs in UCW or Seaside.) Even if you can, a meaningful URL would be a lot nicer.

I also don't think I see the benefit of integrating it with LinkIt at all. A rating system like that seems a little nonsensical for a Lisp directory, and I feel it's there just because it's there. It just confuses things more than necessary.

But on the other hand, movement is good. I hope it doesn't die down once Reddit/Lisp related posts stop appearing on Reddit, and the "scandal" falls by the wayside.

Consider my criticism of the URL scheme a suggestion, then.

Feedback about the system should be helpful whether or not it was written quickly.

I don't understand the problem with the URL encoding. It's not intended for human use after all. ;-)

In my Framework URL are just encoded plists:
(encode-session-url nil '(:page "cat" :object *root-category* :lang "en"))
=> "/asp/a/sdataRIn7OSS7WILIcHZvDQjr-bq=/sdataQucEnB=="

Suggestions are always welcome.

(BTW you have to register to use the rating system)

"I don't understand the problem with the URL encoding."

What's easier to remember, tell someone, copy/paste in an email, convey meaning, etc, etc?

This:
http://linkit.fractalconcept.com/hot

or this:
http://linkit.fractalconcept.com/asp/fbho/sdataQIjkOv5O-kIGDM==/wbhosdataQuEYnB==

You've done great work Marc, and it's appreciated at least by me and probably by many, however the URL scheme is very very ugly and, and I agree with the above AC poster.

Thanks :)

BTW my framework automatically create a public entry point URL for each page. Something like:
http://www.cl-user.net/asp//html/root-dir.html
http://www.cl-user.net/asp//html/hot.html
http://www.cl-user.net/asp//html/new.html
http://www.cl-user.net/asp//html/top.html
etc.

Of course, as soon as you visit them you are redirected to an encoded one ;-)

Just a late comment to inform you that Marc has been so fed up with the requests for a human readable url scheme that he finally implemented it :)