Re: Prothon Lang Dev Wiki

Mark Hahn wrote:

> I would think the wiki would be a bit more structured than your examples.
> Your examples aren't any real improvement over a mailing list.  If we can go
> back and edit the past entries, which is what I think is the big difference
> between a wiki and a mailing list, then I would expect a more structured
> presentation.

It depends on how you look at it.
You can think of discussions as a three-step process:

	phase 1. throwing out an idea or proposal or problem etc.

	phase 2. multiple chains of contributions on one or more aspects

	phase 3. wrapping up with a decision or with a cleaner way of summarizing
	the arguments or with a replacement proposal etc.

When phase 2 of the discussion has multiple aspects and multiple levels
of contributions (as in example 2), the in-one-place wiki format has
many advantages over the mailing list format:
	- no pasting of text, no clutter
	- explicit hierarchy and chronology of contributed arguments
	- always see the whole instead of the parts
	- simpler navigation within the discussion

When we get to the cleanup phase 3, the process is different.
It would typically take the form of a new section of a discussion, let's
say the "wrap-up" section, in which we are then writing a text together.
That's when we use the feature of editing text that's already in place.
This more formal phase approaches the aspects of a PREP.

But phase 2 is only the tracking of the actual discussion process,
and it's not the place for editing what has already been formulated.
The only editing operation there is the indented insertion of a
contribution, as the purpose is precisely to keep track of how the
conclusions have been arrived at.

Summary:

	- phase 2:
		- indented insertion of contributions
		- no modification of existing text

	- phase 3:
		- group modification of existing text
		- inserted comments only consists of discussion on how to
		formulate the text, otherwise phase 2 was not finished

  Laurent Dube