Re: [oswg] Linux Knowledge Base project (fwd)

[Jason Pincin <jpincin@linuxkb.org>]

How do I get a presence on there list?

Jason


On Wed, Aug 25, 1999 at 01:33:41AM -0400, Roger Dingledine wrote:
> You guys should really get a presence going on the oswg, at
> least to quell the new start-ups. And you could get some
> good press/volunteers if you do it right.
> 
> Forwarded message:
> Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 04:54:26 +0100 (BST)
> From: Andrew Wood <ivarch@cus.umist.ac.uk>
> To: techwriters@linuxchix.org
> Subject: Re: [oswg] Linux Knowledge Base project
> Reply-To: techwriters@linuxchix.org
> 
> On Tue, 24 Aug 1999, Nik Clayton wrote:
> 
> > A couple of comments about technical issues that you (and anyone else
> > considering implementing something like this) might want to consider.
> >
> >  1.  Revision control.  How are you going to track changes to the questions
> >      (and the answers) so that you can properly attribute changes to 
> >      individuals.
> 
> This is something I hadn't thought of.  Perhaps either a set of changelog
> files, one per question/answer pair, or something more complex like CVS.
> 
> I don't really know what the pros and cons of either approach would be.
> 
> >  2.  Mirroring.  Resources like this are much more useful if they can be
> >      mirrored.  Both in the large sense of having multiple servers around
> >      the globe, so that people can be directed to the closest server to them
> >      as necessary, and in the smaller sense of people maintaining local 
> >      mirrors of the information on their computers.
> 
> My thought was that the data could be held on users' computers, and that
> when they wished they would click an "update" button to check the web site -
> or the nearest mirror, as you suggest - for updates.  A web-only version
> would also be available so one-off users wouldn't have to download it.
> 
> Being on a slow dialup connection myself, I agree that keeping a local copy
> can be much cheaper (and more convenient) than having to connect to the
> Internet all the time, which is why I wanted to design it this way.
> 
> >  3.  Multiple language support.  If there's one thing working on the FreeBSD
> >      Documentation Project has taught me is that there are huge numbers of
> >      people in non-English speaking countries who are willing to put in 
> >      immense amount of effort to translate documentation from English to 
> >      their native language.
> 
> Internationalisation has been sitting at the back of my mind, though mainly
> as a programming issue: I don't really know how to go about writing a search
> engine that is completely nonspecific as regards language yet accurate
> enough to be useful.  It's a difficult problem and not one I feel able to
> solve at the moment, so I'm currently in discussion with someone about it.
> 
> > I hope the three points above show why this isn't quite that easy, and
> > that spending some time designing this now will save a lot of pain later.
> 
> Yes, I had realised that this sort of project can be pretty difficult. 
> Responding to your message has forced me to collect some thoughts together
> about it, since it's all been pretty abstract so far.
> 
> What it has done is to bring these points into focus:
> 
>   1.  The scope and aims of the project need to be defined.  Who is the
>       target?  What questions are to be answered?  (Perhaps someone more
>       familiar with big projects can suggest a better framework)
> 
>       This is the first thing that needs doing, since for a start I myself
>       could do with being convinced that this project is a good idea and
>       that people will find it useful.
> 
>   2.  There are organisational aspects which need thinking about, such as
>       revision control, developmental structure (centralised, i.e. one
>       person merges changes; hierarchical, i.e. many people can do so; etc -
>       I can't think of more just now), and maybe more.
> 
>   3.  A forum in which discussion and work can take place needs to be
>       created.  This means a web site, a mailing list, both, or something
>       else.  This I can do (though a web site would have to wait a bit). 
>       Also perhaps registration of a name like "www.oskb.org" when money
>       permits.
> 
>   4.  There must be some publicity at some point to attract volunteers, or
>       this project will be dead before it has begun.
> 
> Again I find myself shouting "Help!" - but I don't know where to shout.
> Where would be a good place to ask for help starting this thing up, bearing
> in mind that I'd rather get a small core of idea developers first and then
> publicise it "properly" to bring in more volunteers once there is something
> to actually work on?
> 
> Basically at the moment I need people more familiar with project management
> than I am, since my background is not software engineering or business or
> anything like that but physics, and so I feel somewhat out of my depth in
> planning how to get the ball rolling.
> 
> Thanks for the comments so far.
> 
> - Andrew