On 12/31/23 12:09, Michael Zimmermann wrote:
Hi, I've put some work into making it easy to install Arch Linux inside OSTree. I have started creating a guide at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Install_Arch_Linux_inside_OSTree with the intention of that being just another installation method like LUKS or LVM. Unfortunately, the page was moved to my personal space with the reason: "personal install guide for the author's os-tree wrapper, does not belong in the official namespace". This sounds like the Arch Linux project doesn't want to support this installation method. Is that correct? If yes, why? Thanks Michael
I will be diplomatic in response, but this highlights the growing problem with the Archlinux wiki that is become increasingly hostile to community edits or additions. The idea of the wiki is to encourage community involvement and not become a fiefdom for some over-zealous content maintainer.
I have long promoted the Archlinux wiki as the "best wiki on the planet" and that held true for a decade from the time of my first involvement and contributions in 2009. However, the wiki is deteriorating in usefulness where pages no longer provide complete and concise information to accomplish a given task, but instead are filled with links to other pages (at non-specific jump locations) where the necessary information, once present on the current page, is purportedly now found.
I understand this is done to make maintenance easier, have information in a single place, but in doing so the useful of the wiki has suffered greatly. Store the information once, but make that information available where needed. That is the whole idea behind dynamic web-page content. The postgresql page is an example of this type decay.
Whether it be new contributions as Michael has attempted, or edits to make pages more useful and correct, any and all edits are being systematically rolled-back or moved without any attempt to understand why the addition or edit was offered. That isn't the way a wiki is supposed to work and it discourages user contributions. You only have to tell a user "Go away, your contributions are not wanted" once before they go away for good -- and the community and wiki suffers.
Moderation of the wiki is fine, but it should be a two-way street, not a fiefdom where only the King's edits are welcomed.
In this vein, I would propose a simple "vote" solution (much like StackOverflow does for questions/answers). Where an edit can be voted on (perhaps on the talk-page) and if downvotes are cast, a comment why the addition does not belong should be required -- along with an opportunity for the community member to improve the edit or addition to make it acceptable. Relevant discussion of whether the edit is needed and its impact on maintainability would also be proper in that context.
I want to see new pages and ideas like Michael has, and I want to see the pages in the wiki be useful for completing the relevant task without being referred to 5 different non-specific locations in other pages where you left guessing why you ended up that page.
This is written solely to elevate and hopefully find a solution to the wiki becoming unwelcoming to community contributions. This is an opportunity for improvement. If people like myself and Michael didn't are about contributing to Archlinux, we wouldn't waste the time, toil and energy trying to make it better. For those of us that have been with Arch for years, we know the distribution is worth making the effort for.
Discuss among the powers that be, bounce it off Allan and get his feedback and let's find a solution that encourages community contributions.
-- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
