[Pmwiki-users] Markup

[Massimiliano Mirra]

I was converting the bug list of something I am working on into a 
format to feed to pmwiki.   The format I have kept it in so far is 
this (text is in Italian but this has nothing to do with content): 
* mozilla-locale-it (severity: bug): Non pacchettizzato per la 
versione installata su Knoppix. (open)  * knoppiversity-skel-it 
(severity: bug): La directory /etc/skel non viene copiata come 
tale.  /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession copia file specifici. (open) 
* links2 (severity: bug): Compilato in Woody, non funziona in 
Knoppix, perch? si appoggia alle librerie OpenSSL 0.9.6, mentre in 
Knoppix ci sono le 0.9.7.  (open)   The format in which I have 
converted it is as follows (as it appears in Emacs with 
pmwiki-mode and longlines activated):   ||border=1
|| ''Package'' || ''Severity'' || ''Description'' || ''Status'' ||
||mozilla-locale-it || bug ||Non pacchettizzato per la versione 
installata su Knoppix. || open ||
||knoppiversity-skel-it || bug ||La directory /etc/skel non viene 
copiata come tale.  /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession copia file 
specifici. || open ||
||links2 || bug ||Compilato in Woody, non funziona in Knoppix, 
perch? si appoggia alle librerie [=OpenSSL=] 0.9.6, mentre in 
Knoppix ci sono le 0.9.7. || open ||   This had me wonder: is wiki 
a simplified markup or a transparent, implicit markup?  With 
transparent markup I mean that text appears completely clean and 
natural to the casual reader, an ordinary plain text document. 
Below is one way the information above could be represented with a 
more transparent markup.  Harder to parse for sure but hopefully 
not to the point to require AI.    mozilla-locale-it Severity: bug 
Description: Non pacchettizzato per la versione installata su 
Knoppix.  Status: open  knoppiversity-skel-it Severity: bug 
Description: La directory /etc/skel non viene copiata come tale. 
/etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession copia file specifici.  Status: open 
links2 Severity: bug Description: Compilato in Woody, non funziona 
in Knoppix, perch? si appoggia alle librerie [=OpenSSL=] 0.9.6, 
mentre in Knoppix ci sono le 0.9.7.  Status: open   Of course, the 
following would also appear natural to the casual reader: 
+------------------------+----------+-------------------------------------------+--------+ 
| Package                | Severity | Description 
| Status |
+------------------------+----------+-------------------------------------------+--------+ 
| mozilla-locale-it      | bug      | Non pacchettizzato per la 
versione        | open   | |                        |          | 
installata su Knoppix.                    |        |
+------------------------+----------+-------------------------------------------+--------+ 
| knoppiversity-skel-it  | bug      | La directory /etc/skel non 
viene          | open   | |                        |          | 
copiata come tale.                        |        | | | | 
/etc/X11/Xsession.d/45xsession copia file |        | | | 
| specifici.  |        |
+------------------------+----------+-------------------------------------------+--------+
| links2                 | bug      | Compilato in Woody, non
funziona in       | open   | |                        |          |
Knoppix, perch?                           |        |
+------------------------+----------+-------------------------------------------+--------+

But it is way too impractical to create an maintain even with an
advanced text editor.  So a balance has to be struck.



I do not mean to imply that one answer to the question is better than
the other.  I had not considered it before but more or less
unconsciouly assumed that wiki text had to be transparent.  Maybe this
is because I am so fond of Emacs and text editing that I mostly see
HTML rendering as an add-on. :-) I would really like to hear others'
opinion (especially Patrick's since this obviously sets the direction
for a wiki).


Massimiliano