On 3 August 2012 13:04, Natacha Porté <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello, > >> > On Aug 3, 2012, at 11:53 , Michal Suchanek wrote: >> >> Why markdown and not one of the dozens of other wiki syntaxes? > > If I understand correctly this question wasn't addressed to me (as a > developer of the markdown-in-fossil code) but I'll try to contribute as > objectively as I can. > > As a user, the killer feature I see for markdown is that the > implementation exists (assuming my code is considered worthy, which is > quite a strong assumption, but without it everything else is moot > anyway, so I'll keep the assumption in this e-mail). Code that exists > wins over code that does not. We can discuss for days about the best > markup syntax, it's completely useless when there is nobody to actually > implement it.
By the extension of this very argument, code that exists in-tree beats code that exists out of tree. So the current syntax wins. > > Of course, I would welcome other propositions of implementation, and I > would still be glad if my code was rejected in favor of another > implementation (of markdown or of another lightweight markup language > that I prefer to the current wiki syntax). > > Now my personal opinion about markdown is probably of no interest to > anybody else, but while I do have strong objections and dislikings > about it, I haven't encountered any other lightweight markup syntax with > which I have more affinity. Useless, isn't it? I have strong objections about all such makups, none is perfect, all have some annoyances, and they are all mutually incompatible. Changing from one to another does not improve things, however. It only brings incompatible repositories into existence. I have looked up the markdown syntax on wikipedia and while it removes some annoyances of the more traditional wiki syntaxes like moinmoin or mediawiki it can do that only at the cost of mutual incompatibility. Interestingly, being a github user I am not familiar with the markdown syntax although github supposedly uses it. Admittedly I have used more moinmoin wikis, mediawikis, and phpbbs than githubs, both in total and each separately. Consider bbcode, too. It is not only familiar to developers but it is even more ancient and more widespread than any wiki syntax, and many non-developers use it. And all of these markups are mutually incompatible. Unless you are willing to implement a plugin engine with plugins for 3-4 most widespread markups there is no way to really improve over what there is now. You will also have to change the format of the database so that it contains an additional field for text artifacts like tickets so that they can be rendered with the correct plugin. > > > > on Friday 03 August 2012 at 12:19, Michal Suchanek wrote: >> And it has been said that markdown is out of the scope of Fossil. > > I don't know about that. And honestly, I'm glad I don't have to make > that call. > >> I am >> not to decide that but I have to agree. Once you let in markdown >> people used to some other wiki syntax would argue they have needlessly >> hard time and there would be no end to the stream of requests to >> include yet another. > > I think it's very useful to distinguish between requests to write code in > order to include yet another, and requests to officially mirror a branch > containing ready-to-use code that includes yet another. > > Surely the stream of the second kind of requests would be much lighter > than the stream of the first kind, wouldn't it? > > And as far as requests of the second kind goes, if the code is good > enough and does not bloat the project, why not accept them? (in the > context that assumes markdown has already been let in) Because of compatibility with existing repositories that use the current syntax which is not compatible with markdown. As you did not include a link to your repository of markdown enabled fossil I cannot tell how it addresses compatibility. Thanks Michal _______________________________________________ fossil-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.fossil-scm.org:8080/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/fossil-users
