Re: gEDA-user: Free Dog meeting report: Notes on the topics we discussed

[sdb@xxxxxxxxxx (Stuart Brorson)]

> On 9/17/05, Bob Paddock <bob.paddock@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I have seen the setting up of Wiki's kill list contributions as some pref=
> er
> > one over the other.  It comes down to if you prefer push or pull styles o=
> f
> > getting information.  Personally I prefer to have the info pushed via lis=
> t in
> > my direction.  I don't have time to go pull it from all of the Wiki's tha=
> t
> > I'd like to monitor.
> 
> Indeed; I *love* wikis, but the two fora are quite different in purpose.
> 
> I find wikis are best suited for fully fleshed out articles (e.g.,
> like Wikipedia), and "thread-mode" discussions on wikis are generally
> considered bad form.  A mailing list, however, is best suited for
> thread-mode discussions, but are generally rather poor for things like
> FAQs, articles, etc.

This is the idea:  A wiki to hold the FAQ and documentation, and the
mailing list for ongoing discussion.  The point behind the wiki is
twofold:

1.  It is blazingly obvious where to find FAQ information.  It is
unbelievable how many newbies ask questions which are already answered
in the documentation.  Ales has placed the documentation on-line, but
nobody ever seems to look at it.  A wiki may not entirely solve this
problem, but it will help since it will become yet more obvious where
to look for answers.

2.  A wiki can grow by itself (with user contributions).  Right now,
Ales must either write the docs, or he must take docs written by
others (e.g. Bill Wilson's excellent tutorial, or my SPICE stuff), and
stick these on the gEDA website.  Both require his intervention.  With
a wiki, all of us can contribute, and the documentation can grow
without requiring Ales' attention.

> > > THe problem is spam, and how to control/prohibit spammers from writing
> > > garbage to the gEDA Wiki?
> 
> Use a wiki that allows only registered users to post.  

The problem is that registration will require
Ales to intervene again.  Also, registration places a barrier in the
way of the casual user who just wants to make a quick contribution. 

That having been said, registration is the likely solution, as far as I
know.  

Stuart