VMs: Voynich Wikis

[tyoung1@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

> From: Nick Pelling 

> Basically, my recommended solution would be to colonise a corner of
> Wikipedia (or WikiSource, or WikiBooks, or even the emerging WikiVersity -
> in fact, any one of the MediaWiki group). But probably the closest to what
> Pam & Rene were describing would be to start a "virtual textbook" on the
> Voynich on WikiBooks:
>        http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page:English
> 
> In fact, because this is really easy to go and do, I've just gone and done
> it:-  :-)
>        http://wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Voynich_Manuscript
> 
> I've given the new page the bare minimum of structure - but what do you think?
> 

Looks good.  There were three reasons I did not initially consider a public service like this:

1.  Controlling access to edits.  I am a little uneasy about anyone in the world being able to change/delete data with out an account.  Though I doubt this will cause any problems, it may be just me.

2.  Control.  It is human nature to seek control over one's environment!  :-)  No, seriously, we cannot guarantee that their servers are backed up consistently.  It is probably worth the risk, considering the benefits of this solution.

3.  Licensing Agreements.  Some services like this take ownership of the information posted on the site.  In this case, all information is considered released under the GPL.  This means we retain ownership, but anyone else can use it freely (I don't know if they would be required to site the source).  I don't think this is a major cause of concern.  It is definitely better than the service taking full ownership themselves.


There are some real benifits:

1.  Seems like a full featured wiki.  Dennis: I think image uploads are very important.  We want to try an consolidate the information.  If someone links to an image that they can no longer host, the link become useless.  With image uploading, we know that the images will be there as long as we are.

2.  Easy.  We do not have to set up a server, install software, etc!

3.  Advertising.  This gets our work included in a highly visible place, making it easier for others to find, and perhaps introduce new people to the vms.

So, in all, I am a supporter for Nick's idea!  If we still really want to convert the mail archives to wiki, we should have no problems.

Ted


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