[Opensim-dev] Some thought about OpenSim Wiki future

Wed Aug 3 19:32:27 UTC 2011

My concern is that your prior message appears to describe in depth an
interpretation of a "user" but does little to describe what OpenSimulator is
or does. I would think that someone who is not familiar with OpenSimulator
may be looking at the site trying to understand what the software itself is
and does instead.

On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 10:28 AM, Nomura Makiko <nomura.makiko at gmail.com>wrote:

> Sorry if I have posted again and again - I can't still see my post in my
> mail client... I remember I have clicked "sent" at least ten times before I
> received the mail from dahila.
>
> Which page(s) are you considering replacing? Or are you suggesting adding
> pages which define a user, in addition to the existing wiki pages which
> describe OpenSimulator?
>
>
> We are considering "refactoring" of wiki as a whole. Each contents won't be
> changed for now, just  the moving of existing page would be the start point.
>
>
>
> On 2011/08/04, at 2:21, Dahlia Trimble wrote:
>
> Which page(s) are you considering replacing? Or are you suggesting adding
> pages which define a user, in addition to the existing wiki pages which
> describe OpenSimulator?
>
> On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 10:05 AM, Makiko Nomura (Makopoppo) <
> nomura.makiko at googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi, nice to meet you all. I'm Makopoppo.
>>
>> In OpenSimulator Wiki, Fritigern told me his idea about dividing wiki into
>> user parts and developer parts.
>>
>> http://opensimulator.org/wiki/User_talk:Makopoppo#An_Idea_Which_Has_Been_On_My_Mind_For_Some_Time
>>
>> It would be nice to implement it. And more, I'd like to hear your thought
>> about wiki future as well, especially if you haven't use OpenSimulator wiki
>> ever or recently. (This is rather my personal activity than as a wiki admin
>> job)
>>
>> Here is my idea about what OpenSimulator wiki will be:
>>
>> * The definition of "User"
>>
>> OpenSimulator software, as itself, is a framework for 3D virtual
>> environment. It can be included into enterprise systems; i.e. some might
>> want to bundle it into their web servers, groupwares, or such. Some wants to
>> create their own kins for their use. Some wants to simply use this
>> distribution out-of-the-box. Some doesn't want to own their sims, just wants
>> to connect to them from their viewers. All of them are "Users". They will be
>> categorized into three types:
>>
>> Client Users: Who connects to (or logins to) OpenSimulator-based grids
>> with their viewer, websites, or some other possible methods. They don't need
>> any computer-specific knowledges, they can be teenagers, or even infants.
>> Documentation for them might be out of focus of OpenSimulator project, it is
>> rather client vendor's area, but having minimal instruction and links to
>> their document for further information is not so bad idea.
>>
>> Grid Users: Who connects their OpenSimulator-based regions to
>> OpenSimulator-based grids, or just using it standalone. They needs minimal
>> knowledge of operation systems, databases, or some other related softwares
>> such as web servers to run their own simulators. Since there are already
>> many resources for them, and especially for personal use, kins projects
>> doing great job to make clear documents, maintain them and providing support
>> for years. We can encourage or help them to improve their documents, such
>> as, providing link list to their pages, or bollowing their article with huge
>> credits.
>>
>> Framework Users: Who enhances OpenSimulator software for their use. The
>> purpose varies amongst each other, from personal use to enterprise use. For
>> example, the person who implements *Module, script functions, connectors or
>> such. To say in another word, who using OpenSimulator as a framework. I
>> personally think that one of the role of our OpenSimulator core project is
>> provider of the best documentation for them. And I know currently we don't
>> have enough documents for them, or if exists, it hasn't been maintenanced
>> for years.
>>
>> So, who will be the "Developers"? It will be the contributors who
>> contributes OpenSimulator framework itself. They should know OpenSim
>> internal architectures, implementing guidelines, or licensing matters. Some
>> experts can understand them only by reading codes (yikes!), but it would be
>> nice to have such documents, if we can keep updating them forever.
>>
>> * Possible Wiki Structure
>>
>> Considering these points above, we can divide the wiki into three domains:
>>
>> http://opensimulator.org/ <-- for "Client Users" and "Grid Users"
>> http://framework.opensimulator.org/ <-- for "Framework Users"
>> http://dev.opensimulator.org/ <-- for the contributors of OpenSimulator
>> core project (coders, document writers, issue managers, wiki admins)
>>
>> Although MediaWiki can create namespaces and we can use it for this
>> purpose, I feel sub-domaining provides more straight-forward way to access
>> to them (this is probably because I am an address bar lover). Again, this is
>> just my idea.
>>
>> * Should we create anything on our own?
>>
>> I personally think we don't need to "reinvent the wheel" to create all
>> OpenSimulator documentation from the scratch, there are already nice
>> documents all around the web. Why not make great use of them? I don't mean
>> we can copyright violations and bring them all. Instead, it would be nice to
>> have links to their project websites with simple descriptions about their
>> project goal or feature on our wiki pages. Or, using their documents with
>> big credit would be nice too(Cons is duplicated documentation will be more
>> difficult to maintenance).
>>
>> I wonder why kin projects (i.e. OSGrids, Inworlds, AuroraSim, …) are not
>> feathered as kin developers. They are the good OpenSimulator framework users
>> and the good OpenSimulator "User" documents provider. And communities. I
>> know there are many other OpenSimulator-forums and many experts grandly help
>> so-called "noobs". We can encourage and help them to support others in their
>> community, such as, again, adding link to their forums. Blogs too. I came
>> here looking at a post in ilibsl blog. I had a parcel in Ener Sounds(
>> http://iliveisl.com/makos-home/ is me), and after leaving there, I found
>> OpenSimulator in another post and tried to use it (to reproduce the terrain
>> of Ener Sounds in vain lol). That was the start. OpenSimulator developers
>> including me tends to detailed describe about the architectures, but for
>> users, the documents created by the users will be helpful. It might be not
>> the best way, since the users have to access each blogs and forums to find
>> the answer for their question, but if OpenSimulator core wiki has nice
>> directory to find them easily, it can be ideal. (I feel someone might have
>> suggested the same before, but I can't remember who)
>>
>> It shouldn't keep contributors from writing such documents in
>> OpenSimulator Wiki. Our purpose are varies, so it should be always open for
>> those who wants to contribute the articles. But if we can create the scheme
>> of "Mash-up" the OpenSimulator-related documentations, OpenSimulator
>> community (includes kin projects, blogs, forums or such) will accurate
>> toward mature community as a whole.
>>
>> Thank you for reading. *Steps down from soapbox*
>> Again, comments will be appreciated.
>>
>> ------
>>
>> Makopoppo (Makiko Nomura)
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
>> https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev
>>
>>
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