Anthony Baxter wrote:
> call me wierd, but I'd like to see an LDAP-visible view of this stuff.

OK, I'll bite -- YOU'RE WEIRD! Just kidding, sounds like a cool idea.
I tinkered with the RPMs from Critical Angle, never got too far.
Couldn't get it to import my LDIF stuff. Worst part is I remember
someone posting an LDAP module but I can't find it in DejaNews,
FindMail, or Guido's InfoSeek indices.

Yep, need a module registry!

What good clients exist for browsing LDAP? I found a crummy Windows one
called WAX500. Netscapes address book think suxxxx.

> Everything we're storing could be done as attribute:value pairs - if we
> spec up the schema like this, twould be easy(ish) to export it as LDAP,
> as well as web.

Right, talking implementation is fun, but writing requirements and
deciding a schema is harder. I'd like to see, as a first cut, everyone
agree to the format and then compile a tab-delimited file of all the
stuff on python.org.

> advantages of this? It means that you can write tools to access this data,
> and use filters automatically (rather than parsing a web page, yuk :) - it
> also makes mirroring it easier...

Right. Once it is data, it is much easier to write HTML, LDIF, dBase,
RDB, XML, ...

Here are some requirements questions:

1) Centralized or distributed?
2) Anyone can enter data, many can enter but data must be reviewed, or
only one/several can enter data?
3) Authoritative data online or fed into an online system?
4) Is this a module registry, or should we also try to track authors,
documents, or other artifacts?
5) Should authors be able to edit their entries?
6) Are we going to try to do classification, e.g. put entries into
pigeonholes? If so, is there an authoritative list of classifications
or can anyone choose their own?
7) Is a full-text index desirable?
8) Is browsing (as opposed to searching) desirable?
9) Are we trying to do value-added things, e.g. confirm that the author
exists, weed out entries that get stale, etc.?

As for the schema, I propose the Linux Software Map as a starting point.

--Paul

--
Paul Everitt Digital Creations
paul@... 540.371.6909
## Python is my favorite language ##
## http://www.python.org/ ##

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