Re: aims of the wiki?
Hi Beatrice,
I agree with almost everything you have written.
On Mon Aug 18, 2025 at 9:42 AM BST, Beatrice Torracca wrote:
I think it would be best if the wiki just referenced the relevant
page(s) in the website (or the other way around if it seems more
reasonable, like the ArchWiki seems to do). Or just have a Wiki page
if it adds some specific use cases or instructions.
I agree, if the other content already exists. So to take your the
example of the pointless DFSG page, if we are to have a DFSG page at all
on the wiki, it absolutely should point at the canonical DFSG on the
website, and not repeat it.
We had some pages with info on packages that added very little to what
one can find in packages.debian.org - a description, a screenshot,
installation instructions (which are the same for every package...)
I agree, these pages are useless. I think they should be deleted, with
one exception: if they have very recently been created, and they are
still being worked on, and there's the potential they will have
something on them which is valuable but the author hasn't finished
producing it. (I don't know if any pages we have at the moment fit this
criteria)
Even on other pages which have reason to exist, I often see variations
of `apt-get install some-package`: sometimes prefixed sudo, sometimes
apt, sometimes apt-get, sometimes --no-install-recommends… IMHO we
should document somewhere just once "how to install a package" and point
at that rather than have inconsistent and incomplete examples littering
lots of pages.
Then of course there is the problem with not wanting to delete/change
parts of a page to not offend the author and so recreating a different
page with some of the same information creating internal redundancy.
We need people to resist this somehow. Creating sub-pages under user
names makes things worse, IMHO: I'm much more likely to feel I'm
treading on someone's toes if the page is JaneBloggs/Something than
merely Something.
As much as it pains me to say it, I think the Wiki (old and new) would
benefit from a more strict Merge/Delete policy to avoid redundant or
outdated contents.
Agreed. Both strict and enforced. Deletion is reversible if mistakes are
made or decisions change.
Best wishes,
--
Please do not CC me for listmail.
Jonathan Dowland
jmtd@debian.org
https://jmtd.net
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