[ILUG] content required for YOUR WEBSITE

[Ken Guest]

On Thu, Dec 01, 2005 at 05:59:32PM -0800, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Timothy Murphy (tim at birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie):
> 
> > I looked at this site, and it seemed to me to contain quite a lot of
> > material that might well be found useful and interesting.
> > 
> > Most of the material I looked at did not seem very ancient to me.
> 
> But, Timothy, you just aren't employing the approved viewpoint!  It
> doesn't use Shiny New Technology<tm> -- and the delusion that wikifying
> a site reliably increases participation is a very popular one.
> 

The "PortSentry and Snort Compared" article serves as very good example
that those thinking everything will liven up if we put in a wiki: it is one 
out of nine articles that have had a note added to the bottom of it out 
of eighty-five that could.

Adding a note doesn't require HTML to be emailed to a 'trusted' editor or
anything more involved than sign up for an account [which you have to do on
wikipedia anyway if you want your name written against your work] and tap away
at the keyboard. It's not rocket science.

Use [or lack of] the 'Add a note' functionality , which I implemented in 
October 2004 as a result of us last discussing whether a wiki should be 
used [ http://www.linux.ie/lists/pipermail/ilug/2004-October/thread.html ],  
does give some indication of how many people are bothered to contribute back 
to the site. With 137 people able to log in and do this [anybody listed in 
the "Who's Who" page can] only seven people have bothered - 5%.

So I think it's fair to say that having a wiki on the website isn't going to
make all that much of a difference. We'll still have the same level of apathy
and people "voting" to have the site declared dead. And we'll have the same 
level of content/contribution as well - it will simply be added to the site 
differently.

Fair dues to Paul O'Malley and Michele Neylon to give a review of the different
sections of the site. I'll reread and use their feedback to refine the site
further.


All of this is unfortunately beside the point though, the ILUG site is stagnant 
and unless members of the ILUG do something about it by doing any of the 
following it may as well not even exist: this is the unthinkable truth but it remains so.

 * write a tutorial about using a favoured/much used tool/package
 * write an entry for the Beginners Linux Guide or update what is already there
   as some of it is woefully out of date
 * write an install review of some flavour of Linux
 * write a book review
 * submit additional entries for the 'Alternatives to Windows Software' page.
   The aim of this page is to provide people with information on equivalents to
   what they can't do without on Windows and so learn they can do the same work
   on Linux.


k.

-- 
Ken Guest
Irish Linux Users' Group webmaster, www.linux.ie
Mobile: +353 86 8252 141