Roedy Green...

[Roedy Green]

The Java glossary is copyrighted work without a license that permits
free redistribution.

Even with copyright I could got get a German guy to take down a 2 year
old mirror of my website. Search engines were taking people there and
I was getting flack for its out of date information.

You see the problem in Google with hundreds of copies of the same
document posted all over, all slightly different. You don't know
which is the most up to date.

People are free to make their own local mirrors using the replicator,
just not to post out of date ones.

 

[Chris Smith]

For one thing:

``The Proxomitron couldn't connect to... jinx.swiki.net/
The site may be busy or the web server may be down.''

Indeed. That wasn't the case when I posted the message you're
responding to. I'm trying to get in touch with someone there, but the
whole shop seems to have shut down, including no response from the
admins in charge. I'll let you know when I've got more.

Definitely seems like if it does come back online, the first goal should
be to find the content and move it to a different server somewhere. Or
we may have to start over.

--
www.designacourse.com
The Easiest Way to Train Anyone... Anywhere.

Chris Smith - Lead Software Developer/Technical Trainer
MindIQ Corporation

 

[Dale King]

Hello, Roedy Green !

The contents are huge, and formatted and peppered with Applets. I get
bawled out already for my bandwidth use.

It would rude and presumptuous to do paste them inline every time, and
counter to the general good. Most people DON'T want to read it. Most
people would have seen it many times before. Why should they waste
bandwidth to save the newcomers one click? Why suffer with badly
formatted stuff when a meticulously formatted version is a click away?

If you can't chase the link quickly, perhaps a different
newsreader/browser is in order. For me Agent and Opera work quite
fast, especially if you already have Opera up.

The problem is that you are making the false assumption that
reading newsgroups = being online. That is rarely ever true for
me. Right now I am answering this on my PDA in a camper an hour
away from home. I must say that sometimes I feel left out of the
conversation when you just post a link.

It's one thing if you are posting a link to some official piece
of documentation, but in your case it is a link to Roedy's view
of the world. That view can sometimes be wrong, misleading,
over-simplified, or out of date. We have recently argued over a
couple of those entries.

But I'm not sure what the solution is. Personally, I would like
to see a wiki replace the Java glossary so that it is not based
on the opinions, effort, and knowledge ofjust one person.

 

[Dale King]

Hello, Chris Smith !

I have certainly gone in phases. Currently I read solely on my
PDA so I am rarely if ever. Part of the problem is that the
software on the PC doesn't sync with a news reader on the PC, but
it is open source (written in Java actually) so if I get a chance
I hope to fix that. That will let me move back and forth freely
between the PC and the PDA.

Nevertheless, I'd much rather see Roedy continue to post helpful links
than stop posting. We already have few enough regulars here, compared
to the past.

I certainly agree and did not want to give any other impression.
But I wanted to be honest. I almost replied in the recent thread
where some idiot was bashing Roedy followed by a flurry of
support for him, but thought it best to keep my mouth shut.

I would still like to see the Java glossary turn into a community
project instead of the effort and opinion of Roedy alone. I don't
say that because I have anything against Roedy, but because I
thing it would make it a more valuable resource.

 

[Dale King]

Hello, Roedy Green !

There's Jon's wiki at http://jinx.swiki.net/1. The real problem is
not many people are willing to put effort into writing it. It takes
huge amounts of time.

That's why I said that I'm not sure what the solution is. I don't
know how we go to the more ideal solution where everyone
contributes. But I also see the flaws in the current system.

The problem with the wiki is that it never reached critical mass
and then its champion went over to the dark side.

People seem to assume that I put errors in the glossary deliberately,
and that if they tell me "your entry on X is all wet" or "your entire
glossary is nothing but shit" they have done sufficient to let me fix
it. Many errors happen simply because knowledge keeps no better than
fish. If you want an entry fixed, provide some alternate copy and
perhaps some backup that your view is correct.

I certainly don't attribute it to malice. As you said yourself
you're one opinionated bird.

And I certainly agree that the information quickly goes out of
date. That's part of the problem. It is too much for one person
to maintain, even if they were young and healthy.

If you want a broken
link fixed quickly, tell me the replacement. If you don't like my
opinion on something, e.g. XML, write a dissenting essay and ask me to
link to it. You are probably wasting your time demanding I change my
mind about one of my hobbyhorses.
One of the few rewards of doing all
this work is I get a soapbox.

That's another problem. It is still at the end of the day Roedy's
view of the world. It is a vehicle for Roedy to express himself.
I can't fault you since it is your work. My point is that it
limits the success and usefullness of that work.

Every once in a while I get the devilish urge to just go on strike for
a week or two and shut down my website to knock the notion out of
people's heads they are entitled to the glossary, much less to dictate
to me how to run it.

I welcome and implement many suggestion for improvments, including
ones rudely phrased. Because of HIV, I have a small fraction of the
energy of an ordinary person. I have keep stopping work to lie down
and rest. I put nearly all of my daily allotment of energy into the
glossary. It is so disheartening to bust my ass to do others a favour
and get shit in return. I want to contribute. The glossary is my way
of justifying my existence, a duty demanded of all gay people. It is
like dealing with spoiled brat rich kids. Admittedly I get 10 to 1
orchids to onions, but its the onions I remember.

I certainly do not feel entitled and I am amazed at what you have
accomplished, but I see the limitations of the status quo. I
don't think it right for me to sit back and deny that the current
situation is less than optimal.