From: Phlip <phlipcpp@...>
Date: 2003-01-12T15:08:15+09:00
Subject: Re: remote collaborative programming

Felix Smith wrote:

> Phlip wrote:

>> I'm aware you are a sock puppet here, but what conceivable difference
>> between this system and a Wiki could you possibly advertise?
> 
> Sorry about mis-posting. Cutting and pasting this from the site's
> "feature list":

Feel free to request an apology if you are not in fact a puppet of the sock 
category. Remote collaboration is entirely on-topic here.

        http://www.xpsd.com/MiniRubyWiki

So let's compare this feature list to my MiniRubyWiki project (sock puppet 
that I am). MRW at my shop competes in the "remote collaboration" space.
 
> -Global search function for searching all sheets at once

MRW enables normal and Regexp searches, and it lets you save "named" 
searches as RemoteLinks. The SearchPage is itself a RemoteLink.

> -Archiving with a date/time-stamp for each entry

MRW (rudimentarily) highlights any date (but not time) in dd-Mmm-yyyy or  
mm-dd-yy format with a grey background. Then any dates within the current 2 
weeks display in the calendar panel on the NerveCenter page.

Further date manipulations are possible via (ahem) regexp searches.

> -Backup your information to your hard drive

I guess one could suck MRW using 'wget', but that'd be HTML only. One could 
also remote share the data drive.

> -Collaborate by "sharing" notepad and calendar sheets with others in
> read-only or read/write mode

Nope. Read-write only. MRW only contains opinions.

> -Create easy-to-remember custom Web addresses like
> www.onlinehb.com/mygrocerylist/ for shared sheets

RemoteLinks, written like this...

        GoOgle:

....with a trailing colon followed by nothing, form stand-alone links out to 
pages anywhere on the net.

> -Protect sheets using encryption

Nope.

> -Easily notify others when sheet has changed

RecentChanges - the core of Wiki-dom.

> -Choose your favorite color for the user interface

MRW did not leap upon the CSS bandwagon like all other second-tier Wikis. 
MRW therefor lets you use your Web browser itself to set your favorite font 
and color.

And the WikiStyleSheet lets you add project-specific markup, such as making 
the word TODO always appear big on a red background.

> -Create email reminders in a heartbeat using free-form approach

Sounds like a good idea.

> -Receive reminders on your cell phone

Ouch. Phones don't exist in my world. They are last-millenium.

> -Repeat reminders (hourly, daily, yearly, every x hours, days, weeks,
> months,  years)

MS Office can do that.

> -Create one-word group handles for frequently used lists of multiple
> email  addresses

Searching for that word (if it's really distinctive) would appear to do 
this.

But I need to permit "AND search terms across a page", and "search entire 
page". Options. Right now the search feature only returns the first hit.

> -4 different layout options for sheets

The joy of Wikis is that every sheet has a different layout. ;-)

Well, you've been a good sport, and I hope you can compete with TUTOS 
better than with my Wiki.

-- 
  Phlip
         http://www.greencheese.org/GonzoFriday
  --  MCCD - Microsoft Certified Co-Dependent  --