[Opensim-dev] Some thought about OpenSimulator Wiki future

Fri Aug 5 10:11:25 UTC 2011

Speaking of documentation in packages, I personally think it has difficulty in maintenance. 

Creating the manual inside package means documentation for releasing version must be full done
by the day of release. Considering current number of contributors who contribute to code or wiki,
the former is way larger than the latter, it is almost impossible to do that..

I prefer versioning manuals like Blender's ones.
http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.5/Manual

However, anyway, OpenSimulator is in early stage and changes the feature too quickly,
we can't yet do clear versioning them now. 
Thus, for the time being (depending on the speed of fixing existing bugs!),
the better way would be to always support only newest version (currently 0.7.1.1).
Perhaps migration from 0.6.X to current version may also be supported, I don't know
actually since I'm not a core dev...

Makopoppo

On 2011/08/05, at 18:31, Melanie wrote:

> It was decided to keep control of our own central repository and not
> delegate that to a code warehouse like github. It is a decision I
> stand by because I don't like or trust code warehouses.
> 
> Melanie
> 
> On 05/08/2011 08:27, Jeroen van Veen wrote:
>> How about moving opensim code to github and add something like Sphinx(but
>> then for c#) as documentation, where both documentation from source-code and
>> in wiki style can be mixed?
>> Advantage would be that versioning on the documentation is more flexible,
>> and most of the time the documentations software already provides a
>> professional looking template. Besides, you won't
>> need stuff like captcha's anymore. Just my two cents...
>> 
>> 2011/8/3 Nomura Makiko <nomura.makiko at gmail.com>
>> 
>>> 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 informations 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 simulaters. 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 is unmaintenanced 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 probablly 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, bollowing 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 tecniches, 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 contrabutors 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)
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Opensim-dev mailing list
>>> Opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
>>> https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/opensim-dev
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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