[ntp:questions] Re: [TWiki] Document Format Poll

Steve Kostecke kostecke at ntp.org
Sat Oct 11 04:55:07 UTC 2003


On 2003-10-10, David Schwartz <davids at webmaster.com> wrote:

> "Brad Knowles" <brad.knowles at skynet.be> wrote in message
> news:mailman.29.1065817741.1751.questions at ntp.org...
>
>> At 12:14 PM -0700 2003/10/10, David Schwartz wrote:
>
>> >>  Participation in NTP TWiki polls is restricted to registered
>> >>  users.
>
>> >  Then why advertise the poll here? Presumably the TWiki provides a
>> >  sensible way to reach its own registered users.
>
>> Because there are many people here who may not have heard of the
>> TWiki, or seen it in action.
>
>  So this was intended to promote the TWiki?

No. The goal of the Document Format Poll is to determine which document
output formats are the most popular in the NTP community. This will
help with the allocation of resources for development and maintenance
of document format conversion tools that are included in the NTP source
distribution.

>> Or, they may not have seen the new-and-improved front page that Steve
>> has worked so hard on. Or, there are people who would like to have
>> their voice heard on their preferred format of documentation for
>> quick-reference documentation?
>
> Hmm, so it's "sign up for the TWiki or lose your right to complain
> about the documentation"?

No. Not at all.

But you do have to register at the NTP TWiki (http://twiki.ntp.org)
if you wish to participate in this poll. Otherwise you'll have to be
content with whining and ranting in this newsgroup or an NTP mailing
list. One of those courses of action will assist the NTP developers
and volunteers in choosing which document format conversion tools to
concentrate on. The other is just p*ssing in the wind. Determining this
is left as an exercise for the reader.

<snip>

> There's a fine line here. "There's a discussion going on over here
> that you guys might be interested in" is one thing. But using a
> contentious issue as a way to promote the TWiki is another.

The Document Format Poll _is_not_ an attempt to promote the NTP TWiki
(http://twiki.ntp.org).

But this thread is providing some nice publicity for the NTP TWiki
(http://twiki.ntp.org).

<snip>

> In other words, it's not "here's something that might interest you" or
> "here's something I want to promote, hope you don't mind", it's "you
> have to register on my site or else".

The NTP TWiki (http://twiki.ntp.org) is not _my_ site; it is a
user-driven collaborative work-space for the Network Time Protocol
project. It belongs to the NTP community. And the value of the site is
directly proportional to the level of community participation.

There is no "or else". And there is no sinister, ulterior, or posterior
motive in requiring registration for contribution to the TWiki. 
Registration helps to keep out net.loons who would just deface the
TWiki. The association of WikiNames with topic changes allows members of
the community to see who made a particular change; this can aid in
discussions and helps keep people honest.

The TWiki PollPlugin allows only one, updateable, vote per participant
in each poll. This is accomplished by associating votes with WikiNames
and, therefore, requires registration.

You use your name and e-mail addreses in your usenet posts. Why,
then, do you have such a problem doing the same on the TWiki
(http://twiki.ntp.org)?

-- 
Steve Kostecke <kostecke at ntp.org>
The NTP TWiki is located at http://twiki.ntp.org
All visitors are welcome. Anyone who wishes to contribute must register
at http://twiki.ntp.org/bin/view/TWiki/TWikiRegistration



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