Re: [Bug-gnupedia] Design proposal

[Bob Dodd]

Bryce Harrington wrote...
[SNIP]
> Guys, this is EXACTLY what we need right now.  Yes, it can be
> improved
> on, but *right* *now* this gives a good 50% of what we need for an
> open
> knowledge base.  The server is there, the software is installed, it
> is
> outside the Nupedia editorial process that some people disagree with,
> it uses open source software, it's topic indexing is totally organic 
> like we want, and it closes rather than opens the gap between us and 
> Nupedia.  
> 
> I say let's go ahead and start using it NOW.   
> In fact, I have just posted an encyclopedia entry there, myself:
>    http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki.cgi?search=SpacecraftPropulsion

I know what you mean, but it's not usable for an encyclopedia in its
present form. For one thing, not only is there no editorial control,
there is now way of *really* knowing *who* has modified articles
(although you can tell that they have been). Being able to add your own
entries/subjects is fine, but you should not be able to modify other
articles without the author's permission e.g. I've added "[xxx]" to
your article, just to make the point (you're welcome to remove it).

There are also big problems in terms of organisation of information in
this sort of Wiki (e.g. properly handling synonyms). I'm not saying
these sort of tools don't provide a good reference model in many ways,
but they aren't even 20&% of what we need.

/Bob Dodd





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