Re: Conversion tools work (was Re: MediaWiki next steps)
On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 01:18:17PM +0200, Guillem Jover wrote:
> While I'd still like to work on this (and would/will eventually come
> back to it if no one else does), I would not like to be a blocker for
> further progress with the migration.
I'm not volunteering to work on mm2mw.pl, but I would like to have a go at
preparing the wiki to make the job easier when the time comes...
Before we can properly convert the wiki, we need to document and fix
a bunch of weird little edge cases that will complicate the process.
For example, invalid "#language" tags make it hard to ensure pages go in
their proper namespace.
We also need to decide on a lot of boring details where nobody really wants
to argue strongly for one arbitrary choice over another. For example,
it's probably worth marking pages as needing to be reviewed post-revamp,
but agreeing the name of the associated template/parameter/whatever
is an invitation to bikeshed.
I've been putting some time aside each weekend to clean things up (see e.g.
Complex conversion issues[0] and Conversion edge cases[1]), and writing up
results on the ML as if to say "here's a problem for you to deal with".
Instead, I'm planning to start a DebianWiki/WikiRevamp/Recommendations page
where I'll write up results as if to say "here's a default solution,
pick something else if you have a strong opinion". Writing a converter
should then be a matter of deciding which recommendations to accept.
I also plan to post discussions for issues I expect to be controversial,
then just pick a solution if it doesn't turn out controversial enough
to generate any response. I'll try to err on the side of asking more,
but this is your opportunity to speak up if you were concerned to see me
changing all those footer guards the other week.
To give an example of an issue I'd like to cover - what is a category?
The "Add to:" dropdown on the edit page seems to list all pages matching
`^Category`, including some pages that aren't in CategoryCategory
(e.g. CategoryFrKernel), while excluding some pages that are in it
(e.g. Brasil/CategoryDocumentos) or are treated like categories
(e.g. KategorieHomepage). Some of this should be simple - e.g. change
"KategorieHomepage" to "CategoryHomepage" and ensure associated pages have
"#language de". But KategorieHomepage is immutable and doesn't have an edit
history, so someone whose homepage I change will probably exercise their
right to reply. Linking to an ML thread from the edit comment seems like
a good solution, and linking to the same thread from /Recommendations should
make it easier to decide whether to accept that recommendation.
Any objections anyone?
[0] https://lists.debian.org/debian-wiki/2025/07/msg00050.html
[1] https://lists.debian.org/debian-wiki/2025/07/msg00061.html
Reply to: