Disclaimer: Be aware that there is yet no official KPLUG set of rules. This page is just a proposal by one person (jgs:2006.08.07). There are certainly refinements, exceptions or otherwise differing viewpoints that are worth considering.

comments and opinions invited .. see bottom of page

Just what are the rules?

1. The first rule is that the rules are subject to debate.
2. Then, perhaps the next rule is that the wiki belongs to everybody, and everybody is expected to try to get along.
3. In this (and probably any) wiki, contributors are expected to observe local custom, and try not to bend it too much. It is helpful to also have some awareness of general wiki culture. {{When somebody finds a good reference for wiki culture, please insert a link here as well as on the WikiWiki page.}} See the following sections on this page for an attempt to survey (one view of) local custom.

...

N. Ultimately, administrators may have to arbritrate or otherwise intervene.

Types of pages

It seems important to me (jgs) to recognize that there are various types of pages .. that is, they have various purposes, and the rules vary according to the type:

Exposition pages

.. are intended to convey factual information. They may vary from short FAQ answers to multi-section HOWTO treatises. They may get out-of-date, or there may be competing recommendations or other disputes about the facts. In any case, the rules for this kind of page is that anybody can correct errors, improve wording, clarify, offer alternatives.

Contributors are expected to speak from knowledge (rather than hearsay, or at least to qualify the hearsay), and to recognize and acknowledge honest differences. In some cases, it may be appropriate to annotate some section via some signature (personal or position). In such cases, contributors should add remarks offering alternative opinions, rather than editing the other-person's opinion! Adding links to subsidiary or alternative pages is generally welcome.

Someone wishing to perform a major rewrite or reorganization should probably post a proposal note, and wait a decent while for comments before undertaking the overhaul. It may even be useful to archive, digest, or extract portions of the old pages.

Discussion pages (probably less frequent than exposition)

.. may start off as suggestions, gripes, or even just some kind of philosophical statement. In this case, it is probably best not to change anybody's words (except, maybe for typos that obscure/distort the meaning). Contributors to this kind of page may wish to append/embed signed paragraphs, or consider posting alternatives to a subtopic page and leave a link thereto.

Non-pages .. pages that should probably not be found here

.. news and announcements, blogs, mailing lists, and forums are probably better served by other mechanisms than wiki. Hmmm, maybe we need to further explore use of the kernel-panic.org in those areas, too (other than mailing lists).

How does this gibe with the discussion pages above? My (jgs) thought is that some projects that could be conducted via another mechanism might work out better via wiki .. for example project planning, or even social event coordination. I have a hunch that wiki-style collaboration offers much potential.

Page groups

.. are collections of related pages, possibly structured, possibly only loosely organized. Hmmm, many of my own (jgs) contributions are exceedingly-loosely organized. In this case, contributors have to use some judgement about whether or not to modify the organization. Some pages will clearly invite such diddling, some can reasonably imply that modification would interfere with the author's intent. In cases of uncertainty, one should probably ask (especially before significant changes).

Bottom line remarks on custom

.. keep in mind that the general idea of wiki is to encourage participation. Even in the worst case, changes can be easily undone. Authors should perhaps explicitly insert a request not-to-modify, in some cases. Also remember that members can always create non-modifiable pages in their own personal content area, and scatter links as desired.

Comments and opinions

Please, everybody, feel free to offer your thoughts.