> I also am looking for something to collect documentation tidbits
> into a DB that all can contribute to. We do have a need to search
> and organise though. We are a very small group (6 ppl) and are only
> doing the occaisional DB updates and compilations. I was considering
> just writing my own software with PHP/MySQL but found MySQL to be a
> memory hog so am unsure how that will affect us. We are also
> somewhat constrained with z/Linux under a z/VM guest.
>
> Is wiki not the way for me to go?

Well...

I prefer a wiki to using a Lotus Notes TeamRoom simply because
no one has to run a Lotus Notes client.  As Alan Cox mentioned
wikis don't "automagically" help you organize information.

That being said, a wiki isn't designed to restrict access to
information, either, so anyone who can access the system's web
server has access to *everything* even if you _do_ decide to
restrict who can make edits.

I preferred the wiki because it *is* disorganized and can be
assembled in a piecemeal fashion, where you can build a stub
full of your questions and send the URL off to whoever you see
as a subject matter expert capable of filling them in.  It also
avoids the tendency to lose e-mails, too.

I've put up MediaWiki on a machine we named "Seldon", here, for
our lab-specific documents and links.  We were considering the
need to add two more for other users to use which would have
been placed on "Terminus" and "Trantor", but this wasn't going
very fast.

I have to admit that it's been a good place to put presentations
done for education so that people didn't download 'em via Lotus
Notes.

Wikis have weaker document control than Notes.  This I see as
more of a strength than a weakness because I see innovation as
a "bottom up" process while others will likely see the same
features as a weakness.

It all depends upon what you want and how you want it.  If
you want to be more organized and make sure that everything
is under tight control, think of going with Lotus Notes.

Otherwise?  After using Lotus Notes for a lot of projects, I
find the wiki server a LOT easier to deal with.

And, yeah, setting up MediaWiki is *not* painless, though
OpenSuSE 10.2 has tools to make it easier.

--------------------
John R. Campbell, Speaker to Machines (GNUrd), Stand-Up Philosopher
Phone: (813) 356-5322 (t/l 697)
Adsumo ergo raptus sum
MacOS X: Because making Unix user-friendly was easier than debugging
Windows.
Red Hat Certified Engineer (#803004680310286)
IBM Certified: IBM AIX 4.3 System Administration, System Support

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