[NTLUG:Discuss] KnowledgeBase Product?

[Robert Citek]

On Friday, Aug 20, 2004, at 23:14 US/Central, Rev. wRy wrote:
> On Fri, 2004-08-20 at 22:57, Steve Baker wrote:
>
>> I really don't recommend a Bulletin board for any kind of long-term
>> documentation.   It's intended for stuff where you'd normally use a
>> mailing list or news group.
>
> And that's why I'd recommend usenet/list or archives thereof over a 
> wiki
> any day.

Two different although somewhat overlapping media.  FAQ's arose on 
usenet because people would ask the same questions over and over.  Wiki 
is a good solution to the FAQ problem.  Next time you see the "same" 
question, refer to the wiki.  The main advantage a wiki has over the 
traditional FAQ is maintenance; there's no need for a FAQ maintainer.  
The people who care most about the question/answer can add it 
themselves.

> wikis are great as long as everyone agrees on the subject matter.

wikis are great especially when no one agrees on the subject matter.

> another group comes along and doesn't?  Re-write.  Original group?
> re-write the re-write.
>
> Casual outsiders?  Well, you'll get two stories at a minimum - maybe 
> one
> will work for your situation.  Maybe.  But keep checking, eventually
> someone will get it right.

Re-write?  Every wiki I've seen/used has some form of version control.  
Go back to earlier version, open for edit, save, old version restored.  
Of course a better way would be to include the multiple answers on a 
single page.  For example, here are various ways to install coLinux on 
various Windows platforms:

   http://www.cwelug.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?CoLinux

> Or just post it on usenet and get an answer.

What's this fascination with the "one" answer?  I have yet to get the 
"one" right answer from usenet or mailing lists.  On this thread for 
knowledge base software there are many right answers.  As they say in 
the perl community, TMTOWTDI:

   http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/TMTOWTDI

As an experiment, how many ways are there to count the number of files 
in a directory?  Feel free to add your answers to the bottom of this 
wiki page:

   http://www.cwelug.org/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?FilesInADirectory

I've already posted a couple of answers.

> Good luck.
>
> wikis suck.

I agree, especially when used in the wrong problem domain.  
Screwdrivers suck when what you need is a jackhammer.

Regards,
- Robert