Speaking of wikis

  • Thread starter Thread starter Martin DeMello
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Martin DeMello

Here's one very neat use for an acf wiki I can think of - a page of
'open' requests, that is, clearly identified niches for which no known
freeware utility currently exists. Once it caught on, it could be posted
in its entirety to the group at reasonably infrequent intervals, and
a link to it could conceivably be posted to a few programming language
groups, where people moving up from beginning status are forever looking
for interesting projects to take on.

martin
 
Martin said:
Here's one very neat use for an acf wiki I can think of - a page of
'open' requests, that is, clearly identified niches for which no known
freeware utility currently exists. Once it caught on, it could be posted
in its entirety to the group at reasonably infrequent intervals, and
a link to it could conceivably be posted to a few programming language
groups, where people moving up from beginning status are forever looking
for interesting projects to take on.
Click to expand...

Hi Martin,

Yah but - ACF *has* a Freeware Wish List:

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/FreewareWishList.php

Maybe we need to start posting it once in a while.

Susan
 
How useless. "WHY NEEDED: No existing Freeware" should translate to "WHY
NEEDED: No existing Freeware located at this time" or some such. Anyone who
thinks they have such a grasp on the world-wide list of existing programs
that they can state whether or not a particular type of program exists is
the kind of person who should be ignored.
 
ceg said:
How useless. "WHY NEEDED: No existing Freeware" should translate to "WHY
NEEDED: No existing Freeware located at this time" or some such. Anyone who
thinks they have such a grasp on the world-wide list of existing programs
that they can state whether or not a particular type of program exists is
the kind of person who should be ignored.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with a wish list?

And do you know how long I have spent looking for a freeware replacement
for Advanced Direct Remailer?
 
jo said:
What's wrong with a wish list?

And do you know how long I have spent looking for a freeware replacement
for Advanced Direct Remailer?
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with a wish list. The problem is people who happen
upon the site looking for a program and instead of finding a program see
some blanket statement like "No existing Freeware" and go off thinking that
somebody has some kind of tie with every program in existence and has a clue
whether or not some particular program x exists.

My point is that nobody is qualified to say "program x" doesn't exist.
That's just plain ignorance. If you have a link to some great list of every
software program that exists I think it would be good to see it posted.
Weigh the difference "no freeware program exists" versus "no freeware
program located at this time".

Here, I'll give you another prime example of why these blanket statements
are rediculous. Awhile back somebody was looking for an email server. I
suggested Hermes. I don't remember who, I'm sure you could find it in
Google if it had any importance to you, piped up stating that Hermes was
shareware...and then disappeared. No reason, no explanation. The Hermes
email server has never been shareware.

And to your point...just because you haven't found a freeware replacement
doesn't really have any bearing on whether or not one exists.
 
Susan Bugher said:
Yah but - ACF *has* a Freeware Wish List:

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/FreewareWishList.php
Click to expand...

Ah - I didn't see one on the main page, and didn't click through to the
'acf information'. My bad. Nonetheless, I think a wiki would be a better
way to do this - it lets a lot more people maintain it, and lets each
entry link to its own page where it can be further expanded upon with
'must-have' features, discussions, etc.

martin
 
_ceg_, giovedì 26/ago/2004:
My point is that nobody is qualified to say "program x" doesn't exist.
That's just plain ignorance. If you have a link to some great list of every
software program that exists I think it would be good to see it posted.
Weigh the difference "no freeware program exists" versus "no freeware
program located at this time".
Click to expand...

Your point is logical: I second it, in order to have the phrase "no freeware
program located at this time".
 
Martin said:
Ah - I didn't see one on the main page, and didn't click through to the
'acf information'. My bad. Nonetheless, I think a wiki would be a better
way to do this - it lets a lot more people maintain it, and lets each
entry link to its own page where it can be further expanded upon with
'must-have' features, discussions, etc.
Click to expand...

If the group prefers to use the wiki for the Freeware Wish List we can
make a change. I suspect inertia will prevail. . . ;)

Thanks for the suggestion. I think the wiki will work well for *many*
things when we start using it more.

Susan
 
Susan said:
If the group prefers to use the wiki for the Freeware Wish List we
can make a change. I suspect inertia will prevail. . . ;)

Thanks for the suggestion. I think the wiki will work well for many
things when we start using it more.

Susan
Click to expand...

Is that 'your way, or the high-way"? I counted several objections... I
guess we left democracy? ;-D

Dick
 
Susan Bugher said:
If the group prefers to use the wiki for the Freeware Wish List we can
make a change. I suspect inertia will prevail. . . ;)

Thanks for the suggestion. I think the wiki will work well for *many*
things when we start using it more.

Susan
--
Click to expand...

I get the impression that most of us don't even know what a "wiki" is.
Include me in that group.

Before it takes off, I think that condition needs a lot of help. Maybe some
examples as to what it is? Examples as in a series of 1 or 2 lines, not a
150 page manual.

Glenn
 
Glenn said:
I get the impression that most of us don't even know what a "wiki" is.
Include me in that group.

Before it takes off, I think that condition needs a lot of help. Maybe
some examples as to what it is? Examples as in a series of 1 or 2
lines, not a 150 page manual.
Click to expand...

A wiki is a bunch of web pages which the readers, you and me and anybody, can edit.

It can be very simple with a few pages, or very big, like in www.wikipedia.org with 338 000 pages.

A simple example is http://tkoutline.sourceforge.net/wiki/31 where I and a few others discuss a program called tkoutliner.

You can see that it has become a bit unorganized because some top post and others bottom post.
The owner Brian Theado just added a few lines about reorganizing the discussion with me on new wiki pages.
Please don't change anything unless you are really interested in this program.

It may sound strange that a wiki can work, because anybody can sabotage it, but it usually works very well.
One person writes something, and leaves question marks for things which could need more development.
Another person rewrites it or fills in the empty links. It grows organically as the users add and edit it to become better and better.

If sabotage occurs the owner rolls it back to a backed up state.

A wiki usually has a "sandbox" page, where inexperienced people can try it out to see how it works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sandbox
 
Glenn said:
I get the impression that most of us don't even know what a "wiki" is.
Include me in that group.

Before it takes off, I think that condition needs a lot of help. Maybe
some
examples as to what it is? Examples as in a series of 1 or 2 lines, not a
150 page manual.
Click to expand...

It's kind of like a big guestbook like you see on websites or maybe a
glorified graffiti wall like on the old BBS's.
 
H.M.A. (Dick) Hazeleger said:
Susan Bugher wrote:
Click to expand...
Is that 'your way, or the high-way"? I counted several objections... I
guess we left democracy? ;-D
Click to expand...

We've never been a democracy as it's usually defined (there are no
laws). :)

I don't recall any objection to ACF newsgroup participants using Mark
Carter's AcfWiki. There were some posts re possibly moving the wiki to
the PWH web site - and some posts objecting to that idea (which was
dropped).

Where is the problem? What is your proposed solution?

Susan
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Read the intro paragraphs, and then click on "edit this page" and you'll
see that anyone can edit any page or create a new page.

IMHO a Wiki is a very good thing. Those who are dilligent about updating
things like the wishlist will do so via the wiki, so you won't lose
anything. Plus you'll get the ability to edit it yourself.

You just have to shift your mindset from "What they say is official is
official" to "What we say is official is official."

Cheers,
Mark
PS I'm new and completely ignorant to the politics of this newsgroup. :-)
 
You're rapidly becoming out information guru. Perhaps when you get up to
speed you can start posting the ACF weather report on a regular basis. ;)

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&[email protected]

Susan
Click to expand...

Pardon, if you please, a question from an ignorant colonial - but what the
'ell is a WIKI? Sounds like the name a 3-year-old boy would refer to his
male appendage by.

--
Regards,
Nicolaas.


- We are worthy of only as much respect as we are prepared to give others.
 
Nicolaas said:
Pardon, if you please, a question from an ignorant colonial - but what the
'ell is a WIKI? Sounds like the name a 3-year-old boy would refer to his
male appendage by.
Click to expand...

As it happens, you're somewhat wide of the mark on that one. Wiki is
Hawaiian for "quick". They are web pages/sites that anyone can edit. A
large one is available here:
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki
That wiki mainly deals with software development.

There's also an encyclopedia in wiki form:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
 
Glenn said:
I get the impression that most of us don't even know what a "wiki" is.
Include me in that group.
Click to expand...

a smidgeon of how-to

Using a wiki seems to be dead easy. I've just been over playing in
Mark's sandbox. To create a new page you type two or more capitalized
words run together like this: NewPage

Save the sandbox page you are working on. NewPage then becomes a link
with a ? Click on that and describe the page. . .

Why don't you try it too - the sandbox pages are temporary. . .

http://www.markcarter.me.uk/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiSandbox

Susan
 
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