Distributed wikis

Presented at Freedom in the cloud miniconf, Linux.conf.au 2011.

Transcript

1. Distributed wikis
   Brianna Laugher
   Freedom in the Cloud miniconf
   LCA2011
   

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2. [[SPEAKER:IS]]
   Wikipedian c. 2005-2010
   [[TALK:IS]]
   Strictly vaporware
   Philosophising
   [[TALK:ISNOT]]
   A demo
   Concerned with technical specs
   

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3. Distribute/decentralise what?
   Part Software Wiki
   Interface Already existed with
   centralised VCS.
   Barely exists,
   although possible.
   Vast majority of
   access via web UI.
   Repository/
   storage
   =DVCS meh
   Access point Possible but not
   done, projects use
   official releases.
   “marketplace of
   ideas” model
   Community Kinda, like Linux? Not really
   

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4. ●
   Multiple versions of articles
   ●
   Opposite of “One True Version”
   ●
   Some mechanism allows the best to “rise to the
   top” (like PageRank?)
   ●
   Isn't that like the internet before Wikipedia? …
   ●
   Similar to Knol? UrbanDictionary? StackOverflow?
   ●
   Problems:
   ●
   rewards older contributions
   ●
   evaluating is boring
   ●
   no canonical/reliable version
   ●
   does not force/reward collaboration
   “Marketplace of ideas” model
   

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5. No more “One True Version”?
   “A new-generation Wikipedia based on Git-style
   technologies could allow there to be not just one
   Ocelot article per language, but an infinite number
   of them, each of which could be easily mixed and
   merged into your own preferred version.”
   – Anil Dash, “Forking is a Feature”
   http://dashes.com/anil/2010/09/forking-is-a-feature.html
   

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6. ●
   Wiki = VCS + prose text project + web UI.
   ●
   Copyleft license => “right to fork” => “keeps the
   bastards honest”.
   ●
   (Software) releases : (wiki) approved versions?
   ●
   English Wikipedia is 10. Can it survive to 20?
   ●
   Too big to fail?
   ●
   Too big to fork?
   Some ideas
   

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7. Wiki = web front-end for VCS
   for prose text content
   

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8. What's missing from wiki VCS?
   

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9. ●
   Diffs need to be per-word, not per-line
   ●
   Code contributions generally expected to be self-
   contained, generally in larger chunks than
   w/prose
   ●
   Code needs to be machine readable,
   (optionally?) human readable. Onus is on
   contributor to check machine readability
   => higher technical barrier to contributing is
   widely accepted
   ●
   Drive-by vandalism virtually non-existent
   ●
   Prose projects rarely do “releases”
   VCS for code vs prose
   

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10. Merging for code vs prose
    Code for unrelated technical functions should be
    able to be merged
    Can we make the same promise for prose?
    

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12. Can Wikipedia survive another 10?
    Sense of dissatisfaction in the community
    Unlike software, a certain critical mass is needed
    to stave off vandalism
    

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13. Low barrier to entry
    (incl. anonymity)
    +
    high visibility
    +
    many pages
    =>
    vandalism
    

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14. Wikipedia the monopoly
    ●
    One destination –
    convenient and simple
    for users
    ●
    Great SEO (=> project
    growth)
    ●
    Potential for serendipity
    in editor activities
    ●
    Consistency (at least
    superficially)
    ●
    Practically, impossible
    to fork
    ●
    hardware/bandwidth
    ●
    community
    ●
    Widespread
    bureaucratese,
    instruction creep
    ●
    Impersonal
    

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15. MediaWiki has a write API!
    # Init site object
    import mwclient
    site = mwclient.Site('commons.wikimedia.org')
    site.login(username, password) # Optional
    # Edit page
    page = site.Pages['Commons:Sandbox']
    text = page.edit()
    print 'Text in sandbox:', text.encode('utf-8')
    page.save(text + u'\nExtra data', summary = 'Test
    edit')
    

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16. “Pending changes” aka
    “FlaggedRevs”
    

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19. “Pending changes” separates
    “what change I want to make”
    (a commit)
    from
    “what I want users to receive”
    (tag as approved=”release”)
    

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20. It's almost like
    having a release branch
    mixed in with trunk....
    

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21. Parsing mark-up :(
    Templates :( :(
    Free license + API – what's the
    hold-up?
    

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22. “WikiProjects” FTW
    ●
    Self-organised groups of editors dedicated to a
    particular topic (e.g. Australia) or, less commonly,
    focus (e.g. standardising dates)
    ●
    Very informal, light-weight
    ●
    Narrower focus => better opportunity for
    community
    

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23. Fork the UI?
    (a la Twitter API)
    

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24. “Why would anyone contribute to a
    feeder wiki?”
    Promise of Wikipedia visibility
    +
    Domain-specific and relevant interface
    +
    Community
    

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25. What is community?
    People
    Intent/aims
    Social norms
    - for interacting
    - for contributing
    (eg. style guide)
    License
    Meta-planning for all of the above
    

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26. In summary...
    If forking Wikipedia is too hard, what can we do to
    make it practical again?
    

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27. Credits
    Screenshots and logos are © their respective owners
    Wikipedia 10: David Peters, CC-BY-SA
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_10mark_rev_k.svg
    Vandalism post-its: cdaltonrowe, CC-BY
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/30485180@N06/3490537301/
    Coloured post-its: Michael Goodine, CC-BY
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/watchsmart/3227691975/
    Branches: Piotrus, CC-BY-SA
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shaped_tree_branches_Tenerife.JPG
    Wikimania schedule editing: Kat Walsh, CC-BY-SA
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimania2007_everythings_a_wiki.jpg
    WikiProject Council logo: Neurolysis, CC-BY-SA
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikiProject_Council.svg
    flagged revs maybe: Neurolysis/Kotra, CC-BY-SA
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FlagRevsMaybe.png
    pending changes clock logo: Adam Miller/Anomie/Dodoïste, CC-BY-SA
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pending_changes_clock.svg
    

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28. brianna@modernthings.org
    identi.ca/pfctdayelise
    brianna.laugher.id.au
    This work is © Brianna Laugher and licensed under
    the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike
    license, except where otherwise noted.
    Thanks!
    

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