Re: [Bug-gnupedia]Valid Questions and Thoughts

[Tom Chance]

> To me GNE is, at it's core, a large-scale
> Internet-based Document Management System.  But
> instead of documents I would call the items that GNE
> handles resources.  One type of resource are the
> articles that we have been discussing up until now. 
> However, I don't think we should limit the scope of
> our thinking on what could be a resource.  Another
> type of resource might be an external link to an
> Internet-based resource which is External to GNE.  I
> think participants should be able to submit those
> types of resources as well.

NO external links! Not until we can insure we won't
have broken links and links to sites that violate (or
in future change and violate) our own policies.


> 
> Ideally, resources ready for submission to GNE could
> be in any format, e.g. text, Microsoft Word, HTML,
> etc., and could also be submitted via any method
> imaginable, i.e. e-mail, ftp, web-based form, etc. 
> All submitted resources would have to be converted
> in one way or another to a uniform format which
> optimizes the storage of these resources in some
> sort of central storage location.  The submission
> process and the storage process should be kept
> separate.

Ideally we will have as many submission processes. The
M$Word issue is, of course, a big (and seperate one).
Why kee submission and storage seperate? From the
programming point of view, there shoul be one (or two
max) perl scripts working it all. Tho different
servers for each bit of course.


> A 3rd part of this system would be the retrieval
> process.  If we have a storage specification that we
> make publically available then anyone should be able
> to build a front end of their choosing to the
> storage system.  If someone wants to make a
> specialty learning resource which is just about
> Birds they should be able to do so.

This would be cool to do, but IMHO as more as a
sourceforge project. We'd also have to be careful and
moderate these frontends so that they didn't in turn
violate our policy. some smart arse could try and make
money out of it or something (put ads on his page!)


> You might wish to have some sort of moderation
> system in between the storage and the retrieval
> process.  If done right you could have many types of
> moderations systems all built to the specifications
> of the front-end designers.

Once through a very, very open moderation system I'm
sure each user could create their own sytem for their
"frontend". Though of course frontends would have to
be obvious sub-sections, so people don't get "sucked"
into  a large sub-section, and miss our main resource.
We may also end up with extremist sub-sections, which
are all well and good until they turn from educational
into something more sinister.

Tom Chance

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