Effective sharing of debian-related information
I hope people don't mind my posting to this list. I'm not actually
subscribed, but I have an idea that I thought might be worth posting
and this list seems the most appropriate for it. Perhaps you guys
have already thought of it, but I thought I'd mention it in case
nobody had.
It is an idea for an effective dispersal of Debian-related
information. Basically it is that Debian should implement something
similar to http://everything2.com/.
Between us, the Debian community has a wealth of Debian-related
knowledge. Unfortunately this knowledge is often not easily
accessible or as well organized as it might be. We can search mailing
list archives or ask questions directly to a list. We can read the
often scant information included in a package description. We can
read HOWTOs and FAQs. Although each of these information forms has
its place --- and indeed, are often very useful --- they also have
their downsides. Finding the right place for information is sometimes
difficult. Switching between different information sources is not
always that easy. Often there is duplication of effort, for example
questions on the mailing list answered countless times. There is an
alternative way which overcomes many of these disadvantages.
http://everything2.com/ is a community written encyclopaedia about
"everything". It connects different "nodes" of information in a graph
like structure. Members of the community are free to contribute
information to this structure, but there is editorial control over
content so that, hopefully, the encyclopaedia contains only worthwhile
information.
There are many advantages of this type of system.
* A graph based architecture is a very natural and flexible one for
information storage. It allows very easy specification of
relationships between information pieces and allows ease of movement
between these pieces.
* The ability of users to easily add nodes of information to this
structure means that the work of providing content is done by the
community as a whole. Instead of writing an email on a mailing list,
someone can contribute to the knowledge base by writing an information
node and linking it to other related nodes. Because this structure is
much better suited to the storage of knowledge than a mailing list,
and because of the more permanent nature of this storage, the
contributer can provide much more value for the time he puts in.
* Having editorial control (an alternative is a community generated
value ranking system) should ensure that only useful information
survives (or alternatively, is highly ranked).
The obvious thought then is: why not simply encourage people to add
entries to the everything2.com web site? The only problem is that the
information would then become the property of the everything2 company.
In the spirit of Debian, this information really should become public
property rather than being owned by a company. My thought is that we
should create a "free" alternative to everything2.
The http://www.debianhelp.org/ seems to come part way towards this
approach. My suggestion is that this site (or another related site)
be developed a step further in this direction. Perhaps there are
already plans? Or perhaps it would be too much work?
Anyway, that's my two cents worth.
Mark.
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____/~~\_____/~~\__/~~\__________________________Mark_Phillips____________
____/~~\_____/~~\________________________________mark@ist.flinders.edu.au_
____/~~\HE___/~~\__/~~\APTAIN_____________________________________________
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"They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them!"
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