Re: [Ranger-users] Forum for ranger?

[Miodrag Milic]

Here is the one in php that is similar to OSQA:

http://www.question2answer.org/sites.php

On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 8:10 PM, Joshua Landau <address@hidden> wrote:

On 23 April 2013 01:00, Roman Z. <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 10:13:19PM +0100, Joshua Landau wrote:

> > i3's looks really, really nice but it seems it's not free ;). The thing I'm
> > not sure of with this is that it seems restricted to the FAQ half of what a
> > forum can do.
>
> It seems to me that the thread on the arch linux forum is mostly used to
> ask questions, while the mailing list is used more to discuss ideas and
> new features.  I would be happy to replace the arch linux forum thread
> with a system like OSQA.

On this note, +1.

> > What Ranger needs is a package manager. Something alike to Sublime
> > Text's.

...

> > If you think about it, half of it's just a bit of networking. Once you've
> > sorted the hosting, you'll just replace or augment the default commands.py
> > with a program that trawls a directory and imports files (and, on request,
> > classes from said files). You don't need the fancy load-on-the-fly either,
> > but I think you might already support that ;).
>
> I'm not sure I understand, since I don't know Sublime Text.  Can you
> explain the purpose of the feature you're describing? Keeping plugins up
> to date?

Not really, although yes. Here's my answer in a lazy list format:

+ Better discoverability - there'll be a list of packages and search and it'll be easier to share
+ Easier for the uninitiated - no messing with config files, worrying about clashes and syntax errors
+ Separation of concerns - making packages modular will mean that you can deal with one at a time
+ Speed of use
+ (or -?) Centralisation
+ Gets people off the forum thread
+ Updates, automatable if you care for it

Increased discoverability may even incentivise hacking and monkey patches which have often ended up (albeit in a changed form) inside the main program.

Like, I'm thinking of making a variant of :scout that uses sorting instead of filter (and thus requires a *much* more vague sense of matching). It'd be nice, once partially done, to throw it to the wild to get suggestions just like the wonderful conversion of :travel+:narrow+:find -> :scout. I had :travel and :narrow for ages before they were widely "discovered". Other people had things like the scripts for sxiv and feh for a while where only the few who used the forum thread had access.

On 23 April 2013 01:24, address@hidden wrote:

>I doubt all that automation is even needed, on the other hand some kind
>of website with the basics covered as well as extensions, script hackery,
>plugins and such included in one place could be great for the ranger community.

That gets you discoverability, partially increased ease-of-use and speed of use, centralisation and removal of people from the forum thread. Overall I suggested a package manager over this mostly because we really shouldn't try and add *yet another* web page for things to be. I imagine OSQA + FAQ + Package Manager could completely cover things.

Heck, if we go for those three then help ("?") could better be replaced as a mini index for the (1) current help, (2) FAQ and (3) OSQA (and if done well we can even include a package manager into Ranger). I know I'm going overboard but it sounds interesting at the least.