[OpenAFS] Improving collaboration

[Ted Anderson]

On Thu, 10 Jan 2002 15:52:48 -0500 (EST) Jeffrey Hutzelman <jhutz@cmu.edu> wrote:
> There's also one other possibility that hasn't been mentioned.  The
> author of RT (our request/bug tracking system) also has a system for
> handling documentation, called RT/FM.  I don't think it's publicly
> available yet, but I'm willing to ask if we can give it a try.  People
> can take a look at the RT documentation (managed by RT/FM) at
> http://www.fsck.com/rtfm/

The RT/FM system seems pretty focused on tracking problems.  That will
likely introduce some cognitive dissonance of its own.  Whether the
novel style of the Wiki universe will be more confusing or not I don't
know.  I think in the long run, the Wiki approach might better support
the AFS community.

On Thu, 10 Jan 2002 13:59:43 -0500 (EST) Derrick J Brashear <shadow@dementia.org> wrote:
> I found it confusing and never got past that, but it may be due to
> lack of time more than anything.

Yes, I think lack of time to investigate Wiki does leave one confused.
It is a new enough thing that it takes some time to grok and for the
concepts to sink in.  The best antidote to confusion is just diving in
and having a go at it.  It isn't at all hard to see how it works at the
mechanical level.  Anyone can who can wield a web browser easily peruse
and modify the content.  It is just the higher level gestalt that takes
time to absorb.

On Thu, 10 Jan 2002 21:01:20 +0100 cg@cdegroot.com (Cees de Groot) wrote:
> You have Wiki's in all forms. Take a peek at, for example,
>
> http://www.cdegroot.com/cgi-bin/photowiki (a Wiki written in Python
> that even non-techies - photographers - seem to be able to use)
>
> http://swiki.cdegroot.com/squeakfoundation (a Wiki written in
> Smalltalk featuring, among others, file attachment/uploads and very
> good helptexts)
>
> you will see that Wiki's allow various gradations from "classical"
> Wiki-style text to full HTML markup. Just pick the correct one :-).

I looked at a few of the various Wiki engines[1] and there are a lot of
them.  It looks like UseModWiki[2] might be easiest if the web server is
already using ModPerl.  The MoinMoin engine used by Cees' PhotoWiki
seems reasonable too, unless installing Python whould be an extra
hassle.  We could discuss various features if there is interest in that.

> (OBTW: as an ISP profiting from OpenAFS, I'm more than willing to help
> out in setting up, hosting, maintaining, whatever).

On Thu, 10 Jan 2002 15:52:48 -0500 (EST) Jeffrey Hutzelman <jhutz@cmu.edu> wrote:
> If people can figure out what they want, I'll be happy to provide for
> infrastructure on www.openafs.org.  The current problem isn't a lack
> of hardware or even of time to set stuff up; we just need some content
> and some idea how to organize it.  Oh, and we need someone to manage
> it -- I do that for the mailing lists (approving messages and handling
> the occasional problem); it would be great if someone else volunteered
> to do it for documentation.

Running the Wiki at www.openafs.org, sounds most logical, but I don't
think it really matters.  Cees' offer of support is very kind.  I'd be
interested in helping manage it, but I'm assuming that isn't a big job.

Ted Anderson

[1] http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiEngines
[2] http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?UseModWiki/Download