[Linkbat-devel] RE: Linkbat Project

[Hal F. G. <hal...@ur...>]

-----Original Message-----
From: James Mohr [mailto:lin...@ji...] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 3:41 PM
To: lin...@li...
Cc: Suriya Narayanan M S; hal gottfried; John Purdy; Rama; A .; Russell
Cotten
Subject: Linkbat Project


I've got a couple of administrative issues to cover. I have not yet
added 
everyone to the developers list because not everyone has confirmed that
they 
want me to do it.  Check out the project page on SourceForge to see if
you 
are listed as a developer (http://sourceforge.net/projects/linkbat/). If
you 
are not listed and do want to be, let me know. I will then put you on
the 
developers mailing list, as well.  


		HG> You have not listed me but I would like to be listed
there
		    as well.


Most people do not have a public skill profile on SourceForge. That's
okay, 
but I would like to know what exprience and skills people have, plus
exactly 
what areas they want to work on. There is plenty of work in multiple
areas, 
so don't be shy! Check out the task list on SourceForge. Most are
related to 
content and not programming.

		HG> I will go fill that out for you today.


Also please let me know what style of management you want from me. Do
you 
expect me to hand out assignments to you or will you simply grab one? Do
you 
need regular reminders? I realize that we are all doing this when other 
projects permit and sometimes we loose track of time. I will fit myself
to 
your style. Since this is a team project, I really don't mind if you
tell me 
that you think something is wrong. I believe that we are headed in the
right 
direction, but please tell me before we drive over a cliff. 


		HG> I am working on quite a few projects so you can tell
me if you
		    would like what part you'd like me to work on, or I
can just grab
		    something.



You can send this kind of "personal" info to me directly, instead of the
list. 
However, technical/project related info, I would like to go to the list.
That 
way if someone else can/should comment on any topic, they can. 

Please give me an idea of you availability. I don't need the specific
number 
of hours you can work per week, but I would really like to know what
other 
projects you have going. Are you in school, working full time, whatever?

If can no longer contribute for whatever reason please let me know, as
soon as 
possible. If you have to take a break for whatever reason, please let me

know, as well. I know this is an all volunteer project and I am very
grateful 
for the help. However, communication is the only way this can be a
success, 
so please communicate. 


		HG> I am a corperate IT Trainer and I am currently on
the road
		    about 20 - 25 days a month but I can provide at
least 4-5 
		    hours per week, for this as I see it now. 



Also please let me know where you live. I am in Germany, so I am several
hours 
ahead of the people in North America. Aside from simply being curious,
it 
helps me to know when you will be reading email, etc. If I send a
message 
early in the morning (before I go to work) , some of you might still be 
awake. If I send it later in the morning, I will expect to wait a while 
before you even read it.


		HG> I live in Pittsburgh USA, I used to live in Germany
though.


Up to this point, I have been encouraging visitors to support the
tutorial by 
making a donation to the Jessie Arbogast Medical Fund. Since we are a
team, I 
think we should all have an equal say in how to distribute any
donations.  At 
this point, I do **not** what to soliticate donations to pay us.  Note
the 
phrase "at this point". I don't want to count our chickens before they
hatch. 
However, I think we can have a "care-ware" site, where we encourage
donations 
to needy causes. Each person can make a suggestion and we can create a 
"donations page" or whatever to point people to the right place. Also,
if the 
organization your want  to support has a banner ad that we can use, it
is 
really easy to add it to the system.  There are a number already up. 

Now for the technical stuff. As soon as possible, please, please read
both the 
Concept and Detailed KU Description on the linkbat site 
(http://linkbat.sourceforge.net). I want to finalize this as soon as 
possible. One nice thing about storing in XML is that we can more easily

change the structure, but I would like to have as many questions
answered and 
decisions made as possible before we continue. I would like to start the

hardcore work no later than the beginning of next week.  

One person had expressed interest in helping, but could not shake the
idea of 
linkbat as being a huge Linux glossary. It ain't! Although I am not
trying 
for the ultimate knowledge base with artificial intelligence that can
answer 
every question you input, I feel this data model can simplify access the

knowledge necessary to get the answer (if not providing the answer
directly).  
Also keep in mind that a knowledge base is useless without content and
we can 
always use content. So, if there are content related tasks that you
could do 
and need a break from coding or whatever, **please** grab one. Also, the

tutorial can always use some editorial review (spellchecking, etc). Even
if 
it is a single correction, it make the tutorial a little better. 

Once we have the data structure we can start moving the data from the
current 
CSV into XML. While that is happening we can also work on the code to do
the 
conversion back into CSV as well as into an database (i.e. SQL).  The
reason 
for the conversion back into CSV (as mentioned in the linkbat concept)
is 
speed when online. XML is ten times larger and takes that much larger to

read. Plus the indexes need to be created and there is no way we can do
them 
in real-time. (Or does anyone see that differently?)

Three people have said they could help doing the conversion. That might
be 
overkill, but doing a quick conversation means we have the XML files for
the 
coding. That means moving sooner to other tasks. 

Once I get people's comments I will "finalize" the model and create a
DTD. I 
don't think it is necessary to wait to convert the data to XML before
the DTD 
is finished. The DTD is just a stylized description of things we already

decided upon. However for someone providing us content in the future, it

would be useful.

I guess that's it for now. I am sure I will have more to say real soon. 

Best Regards,

Jim
-- 
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character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what
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