[Opensim-dev] Some thought about OpenSim Wiki future

[Justin Clark-Casey]

Hi Makopoppo.  Nice to see you on the list.

I have to say, I'm not in favour of reorganising the wiki structure at this time.  We already have a users and 
developers division.  As you say, client users are out of focus and I think this is likely to remain so.  Running 
OpenSim is always going to be a very technical task by most people's standards.  It's an order of complexity more 
difficult than running a webserver, for instance, and those aren't touched by everyday users.

I think that by far the better use of time is improving documentation.  Although I've gradually [re]written quite a lot 
over the past year, I'm sure there's still a lot which is incompletely, completely missing or actively misleading (as 
you hint).  Unfortunately, the combination of doc writing and technical chops is a rare one so I think this will only 
slowly improve over time.

Linking to other documents on the web is definitely encouraged.  But this is an OpenSimulator wiki, so only topics that 
relate to OpenSimulator are appropriate.  If someone wants to start a general wiki then I think that would be better at 
a separate site.

On 03/08/11 18:05, Makiko Nomura (Makopoppo) 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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-- 
Justin Clark-Casey (justincc)
http://justincc.org/blog
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