[Pmwiki-users] Three Questions

Theo Armour theo
Sat Jan 1 09:06:10 CST 2005


Hello PmWiki users:

 

As the strength of PmWiki develops, larger numbers of administrators will
want to commit significant numbers of web sites to PmWiki. In doing so we
all would appreciate some assurance that the project has an ongoing
stability, predictable future growth, and collaborative support.

 

Below I outline some of the typical questions (along with nightmare
scenarios) that web site administrators may have:

 

 

1. Career/Personal Prospects

Pm's personal web site implies that he is looking for a new position or even
a new career. Are Pm currently supporting himself adequately? Will Pm be
able to continue development PmWiki for the next year or two?

 

Nightmare scenario. PmWiki becomes like phpNuke: published by a lone
individual developer incessantly bleating for money.

 

 

2. Predictable Future Growth

Is there a road map for PmWiki? Or perhaps more to the point is there a list
of things that will *not* happen to PmWiki (forewarned is forearmed).

 

[Is one needed? The PmWiki Philosophy (also core beliefs) is already some
distance ahead of what other web apps offer.]

 

Nightmare scenarios. The work product of an individual tends to be quirkier
than the work product of a group.  PmWiki starts to bloat. PITS (or some
other special aspect) starts to become Pm's primary topic of interest.  Pm's
primary interest switches to an altogether different type of application. 

 

 

3. Collaboration

Does PmWiki have the required resources? Is there a fly in the ointment? Is
there anything else we should know about? 

 

If something nasty unforeseen should happen, does anybody have
maintenance/root access to Pm's server? Or to a public CVS?

 

Nightmare scenario. Some killer Trojan horse/virus appears that affects
visitors PmWiki web sites. At about the same time Pm suddenly ceases
development and takes his site down. Thus there is no warning system in
place that this disaster is happening. In the ensuing chaos numerous sites
have to be taken down. Rebuilding all the sites happens on an ad hoc,
disorganized manner.

 

***

 

Answering questions such as these is not always easy.  Also an email answer
is likely not to reach the audience it should reach. Therefore would Pm
consider adding a page to the PmWiki site that begins to respond and to
outline ways of addressing these issues?

 

As I write this, I ask myself "Is this really relevant? Why not just let Pm
get on with things..." Then I search for "PmWiki" on Google and see there
are 619,000 hits today - nearly 100k more than a month ago.

 

Happy New Year to all. May your wikis flourish.

 

Theo Armour

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