Ubuntu applications database

[Allan Day]

Dougie,
>> On the issue of subjectivity, I had intended RecommendedApplications as
>> somewhere very much to collect the subjective opinions of Ubuntu users;
>> hence, the first line reads: '/This page is a list of software
>> recommendations made other Ubuntu users.' /I'm sure I could do more to
>> emphasise the subjective nature of the entries on that page. That
>> aside,
>> is it wrong to have subjective opinions on the wiki? I thought that it
>> was quite a nice idea to give people the chance to express themselves.
>>     
>
> Probably not a bad thing as such but on the help wiki we need to be
> objective, otherwise there is the potential for arguments to start which
> helps no one - people have all the chance in the world to express their
> opinions on software on the forums (and frequently do). I like the idea of
> what you're promoting but think it is better laid out to suggest what a user
> might be looking for rather than saying "this is the best". In some cases,
> such as Firefox, it is probably true that it is the best browser but when it
> comes to more specialist applications, say mathematics for example, it may
> be the greatest on earth at transposing formula but if it doesn't support
> RPN its no use to me.
OK, so saying 'this is the best program ever' probably isn't such a good 
idea. What about phrasing it in a more first person way - 'I really like 
this application because...'? Not only would this reinforce the 
subjectivity of the entries, but it stresses the community nature of the 
wiki and Ubuntu in a really positive way. The great thing about this 
stuff is that it isn't hard, objective stuff, handed down from some 
monolithic company. In this light, subjectivity could be seen as a 
really positive thing.

>> Function 1: An indication of the applications which are available for
>> Ubuntu.
>> Function 2: An index to pages on the wiki which concern specific
>> applications.
>>
>> I think we are probably in agreement in saying that the page probably
>> isn't well suited to function 1. What I was saying in my last email,
>> however, was that I think the page is useful in terms of function 2,
>> but
>> that (in supporting that function) it would be nice if it could be
>> automated in some way.
>>     
>
> Oh OK, I'd agree with that. Is there some commonality between software pages
> that could be used to automate their addition? If a standard template (I see
> there is one) was used then you'd have less problems, i.e. say fields for
> PackageName, PackageDescription, PackageDesktopType and PackageURL then they
> could be scraped by a cron job into a page (off the top of my head, I don't
> use moin moin outside of this project and am not wholly familiar with it).
>
>   
Very good question. The problem would be getting people to use such 
fields consistently. Definitely worth thinking about, though.

Best,

Allan