So, I got a wiki. Those of you who listen to LugRadio will have heard me being extremely abusive about wikis, and may therefore (charitably) be wondering why I’ve got one myself, or (uncharitably) be laughing hysterically at how the mighty are fallen.
No so, I say. Official update to the Castle Kryogenix Software Policy coming up.
What I don’t like about wikis is not the general concept of the thing: it’s the way that software developers think that they can throw together a wiki instead of documentation, presumably in the hope that
- Their users will create their documentation for them
- They don’t have to do any work
- It is somehow easier to understand how to use a piece of software by reading a wiki filled with random disconnected notes and arguments than it is to read a fucking manual (this is the sort of thing that Matt rants about all the time)
Anyway, mine is not really for you lot to read: it’s for me to read. You are, of course, welcome to read it (Danny O‘Brien has talked before about “working in public“, and it’s a laudable goal), but I’ve thought more than once about having a “projects” weblog to note down ideas I’ve had. Since one of the major ideas is “rearchitect kryogenix.org so that other weblogs work properly“, there was a sort of chicken-and-egg problem there. So, a wiki. Looks like a good one too, if you don’t need a lot of features, which I don’t; it’s not a proper website, it’s a collection of online notes.
Paul Freeman
Rob
Heh, been there, done that, got the abandoned wiki :)
Hmm, I ended up with a similar chicken and egg situation where I’ve currently got a project to redesign my wiki so it is a useful project support wiki.
Still, it is up and running and had content until some spammer found it.
My work wiki is more sucessful, even though I’m the only contributer, lazy cow orkers