[Mediawiki-l] mediawiki 1.5: so difficult?

Tue Nov 29 01:16:29 UTC 2005

On 11/28/05, Rowan Collins <rowan.collins at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 28/11/05, luis at cyber.law.harvard.edu <luis at cyber.law.harvard.edu> wrote:
> > Yes, but it is infrequent-by-many- i.e., I'd guess virtually everyone
> > tries to do it once, and it is an early task that forms a key first
> > impression of the quality of the software for admins. It really is
> > something that should be fixed if mediawiki wants to become more than
> > just the wiki that powers wikipedia.
>
> Well, 2 obvious answers that somebody is bound to make:
>
> 1) MediaWiki doesn't exactly "want" to become more than the wiki that
> powers Wikipedia - development of the core codebase is very much
> driven by the needs of the Wikimedia Foundation, and there is no
> intention among the core developers to change that emphasis.

This is a very good point that a lot of users miss.  The function and
shape of mediawiki, like any other open source effort, is driven by
the needs of the core developers, or those paying their salary.  Free
open software is free as in freedom. Anyone can extend the software,
by patching and trying to keep up with changes while lobbying to get
patches accepted into the base. And getting those changes into the
base is more likely if it enhances the purposes intended by the core
developers.

In any event, mediawiki is already more than just the wiki that powers
wikipedia, there are quite a few happy users including me.

> 2) Can you clarify what you think makes the current customisation
> process difficult, and - even more usefully - can you suggest how it
> might be improved? Is it just that the existing method isn't clearly
> documented (or that the documentation itself is too hidden)? Or is the
> on-wiki "MediaWiki namespace" system, with [[Special:Allmessages]] as
> a guide, fundamentally flawed? Or is it more the LocalSettings.php
> parts you're reffering to, or the division of features between the
> two?

And one should keep in mind that the reason that this particular area
of customization is a bit complicated is to meet the needs of
Wikimedia. A lot of the complication is there to support localization
via the Mediawiki namespace.

--
Rick DeNatale

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http://www.mercuryspacecraft.com/