[erlang-questions] FOP (was: Re: Trace-Driven Development)

[Michael Turner]

On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 6:06 PM, OvermindDL1 <overminddl1@REDACTED> wrote:
> On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 1:30 AM, Michael Turner
> <michael.eugene.turner@REDACTED> wrote:
>> /* snip all */
>
> Is there not a wiki out there that by default shows a 'published'
> copy, but lets you see the current head with another click, and lets
> you make changes to the head, and an authenticated
> manager/editor/something/special can clean changes and vet it to
> publish as the new default view, preferably with a list of 'heads that
> do not match default' page so they know what to look at?

I haven't looked. But here's how to approach such questions: wiki
software is software. So ask yourself, "Could software do this?" If
the answer is "yes, then not-too-surprisingly often, there is already
a wiki (or an extension thereof) that does it.

One reason why the idea might not be implemented: it isn't actually a
good idea. In this case, it might not be.

Wikis improve by evolution of a *current* version. They are more
likely to improve if the current version is the most frequently seen
version. If the default page for any article is instead the
"published" copy, rather than the true *current* version, and if users
need to notice and click a special link to get any contributed updates
to that copy, you are asking volunteers to do more work and giving
them more frustration. People like me who often want to fix errors
will see them in the "published" and locked-down copy, and click
through to the wikified version to navigate to the point of error,
only to discover, all too often, that somebody has already corrected
it.

Better to put current version first, with a disclaimer, and make the
"release version" on which it's based easily available through a
prominently featured link.

-michael turner