James Barrow [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> if the wiki contains a search function, you could perform a search and send
> that link to your friend.
Right, Jim... But the archives already have a search function.
Unfortunately, the particular one that TCP uses doesn't work very well,
but it'd be sorta trivial to replace it with a better search engine.
> I've seen threads .... that have gone on for several days. .... every
> third post contained a link to an article or reference that I found
> interesting. These links (and short articles) could be posted or pasted
> to the wiki.
Why? They already exist in the archives.
> > If the experiences of other lists is any sort of guide, adding a wiki
> > will only fragment the discussion and result in either the list or the
> > wiki (or both) withering due to loss of focus.
>
> I don't see it like that at all.
You're saying that this list is fundamentally different from those
other lists, in a way that makes this one immune to the fragmentation
effect that all of them suffered?
> You and I could probably talk about this for days before Carpal Tunnel set
> in.
Well, no. This'll probably be my last post on the topic, since I'm
already starting to repeat myself. But let's continue...
> Let's say that at the end of this discussion Lisa based her decision on
> what we had discussed. You and I could then take this entire thread and
> put together a nice article about the pros and cons of a wiki including
> what to include, and what not to include.
Ok, we find ourselves with nothing better to do with our time, so we
decide to write that article. That's fine... But why wouldn't we then
just post it to the list? That way, everyone who's interested in reading
it will just see it in his inbox.
If we post it to a wiki instead, then we have to either post a link to it
on the list, copy it to the list, or resign ourselves to the depressing
reality that hardly anyone will ever read the article we worked so hard
on. See my earlier posts -- they're available in the archives -- for
a list of the problems with each of those three options.
> > A mailing list is a lot like a cocktail party: It just doesn't work
> > unless you put everyone in one room.
>
> It's late and I didn't understand this one.
Imagine a cocktail party at which no one's allowed to make small talk;
instead, there's a huge pile of notebooks in the guest bedroom, one of
which is titled "Read Me First". It explains what the weather's
normally like around here, how many kids everyone has, what everyone does
for a living, etc. Anyone who tries to start a conversation with one of
those subjects gets only an exasperated "God, not again... Didn't you
read the Read Me First notebook?"
Imagine that whenever a guest has something to say, he flips a coin.
Heads, he goes ahead and says it; tails, he runs into the guest bedroom
and writes it in a notebook instead.
Imagine that some fraction of the people invited to the party don't even
bother flipping a coin. Instead, they walk straight to the guest bedroom
when they arrive, scribble in notebooks for a couple hours, then leave.
Imagine that whenever a group of people manage to start an interesting
conversation, they get about halfway through it and then suddenly rush
home. Hours later, they reappear with a notebook which they toss onto
a stack in the guest bedroom. Sometimes they first read it aloud in
its entirety.
Imagine that while all this is going on, half the people in the room are
scurrying around with tape recorders, shoving the mics in everyone's
face. Those guys keep disappearing into other rooms to transcribe the
conversations; when they return, they throw their newly-filled notebooks
into the guest bedroom and yell, "New notebook!"
Imagine that you notice a small group of people discussing a new movie.
You get a drink, then wander over and say, "Hey, that movie looked like
it could be good. What did you guys think of it?" One of them starts to
speak, but he's interrupted by another one who tells you firmly, "Hey.
Joe just finished summarizing our thoughts on the movie... Didn't you
hear him yelling? It's all in his new notebook."
Imagine how much fun that party would be. Imagine all the friends you'd
make, the diverse opinions you'd hear, the fascinating conversations
you'd have, the new things you'd learn. Imagine yourself looking for the
door.
> > if I want to get the whole story, I'll have to read both the list AND
> > the wiki?
>
> No, both the wiki and the list would give you the same information.
See the "redundancy" comments in my earlier posts.
> On another list I've been following a thread .... Given approximately eight
> hours, I could summarize the discussion .... To me, that's easier than
> opening and closing archived posts in chronological order.
Hmm. I think reading for eight minutes is easier than writing for eight
hours... But that's just me.
Even so, I again have to ask, "Why not just post it to the list?" So
far, it seems to me that searchable list archives address every problem
that you propose to solve with a wiki.
> I do appreciate the time and thought you've put into your questions.
Thanks. I think I'm done now, though.
-Andrew
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