Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Open Source, open development... opening this month!

michal frackowiak 1200498940|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

One of the main goals of the Wikidot project was to produce and release open-source edition of Wikidot. And we are going to do it as soon as this month!

So here are a few details: as some of you know, our main effort now is concentrated on Wikidot 2.0 - the "next generation" wiki framework. It rocks, believe me ;-). But while everyone is waiting for the "2.0", we already have software that powers the current service at wikidot.com that would certainly be also very useful (even if not super admin/user-friendly) if released as open source now. So what we are going to do is:

Release current Wikidot v1 as open source

We are packing, checking and cleaning as much as we can to make the initial release now. At the beginning it would be probably more like a "hackers' release" but it will give you a chance to install, customize and run the software on your own server. For free of course. Cool, isn't it?

Open the development of Wikidot v2

With Wikidot 2.0 we are close to the point where we can invite other developers to join in creating (IMHO) the most advanced open-source wiki software on Earth. Several components are already done and can be instantly useful. The most important thing it that it is fully-modular with the nice system of extensions, modules, add-ons and plugins.

How?

For both projects we will be creating a publicly-available Subversion repository with the code. We will also redesign http://wikidot.org website to be a community hub for open-source products and development.

Both products will be initially available under the GNU Affero General Public License - version 3.

We deeply believe that free and open are the right ways to think about computer software and our releases will create numbers of opportunities for users, developers and administrators on their way to "wikifying the world"

On the day of the release there will be a few other nice announcements.

Good luck!

The Wikidot Team

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

irondello 1200519030|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

What you are doing is really incredible!! Thanks a lot!!

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

ifavada 1200526573|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Good news! I have widely searched for wiki for academic publishing and easy to use. Undoubtedly, wikidot is one of the best in features not in appearance (UI). Releasing an open source version is a great way to speed up its development. To attract more independent users of the open source version, wikidot should be able to be installed in a shared hosting environment instead of dedicated server or VPS.

Lastly, Wikidot.com's business model is not clear. This causes me a concern.

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Reder 1200543225|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Really nice!

I can't wait for both!

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

hartnell 1200626959|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Lastly, Wikidot.com's business model is not clear. This causes me a concern.

Wikidot gets a cut from people like me who develop wikis professionally, that is, for a living. Wikidot co gets 20%, I get 80% of ad revenue. Because I hate managing my own host, I prefer to develop here on wikidot. This allows the average user to use wikidot without ads if they want to. 20% would normally be steep, but — I'm paying for my share of hosting costs, continued development of software, and hopefully, a beer for Michal. :)

— hartnell

last edited on 1200626994|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by hartnell + show more

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

megasycophant 1201010988|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

In which language is wikidot implemented? Was it based on another open source codebase?

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Matt Wilkie 1201027328|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

this is wonderful news! And perhaps very good timing for me. This very week we are starting a project which will require a wiki as a central component. I'd love to base it on wikidot.
What are the server requirements?

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Dashade 1201177601|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Wikidot gets a cut from people like me who develop wikis professionally, that is, for a living. Wikidot co gets 20%, I get 80% of ad revenue. Because I hate managing my own host, I prefer to develop here on wikidot. This allows the average user to use wikidot without ads if they want to. 20% would normally be steep, but — I'm paying for my share of hosting costs, continued development of software, and hopefully, a beer for Michal. :)

Amen. I was actually wondering if there was a place to donate, or if there's a way to help the site without using Adsense.

Honestly, I was looking for a free wiki on Google, and found Wikidot, expecting some kind of catch or severe limitation. Finding none, and seeing how amazingly awesome Wikidot is, I actually -want- to donate to this.

Granted, if you made me, I wouldn't want to. Wierd how that works out, isn't it?

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Matt Wilkie 1201201784|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I feel the same way as Dashade. A process for making donations would be welcome.

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Sylvain Martel 1201287133|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Donation option would be great because some people won't bother to put ad-sense to their site and still get all the use an other user which uses as-sense and contribute to financing the wiki.
The reasons why I chosed wikidot were not only financial, it provides me with a decent playground to learn how to build wikis and it's got a good community support it seems.

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

michal frackowiak 1201309657|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Hi,

thanks for all your feedback! I am really glad you like Wikidot and that it proves useful to you!

As far as the open source release is concerned, we are aiming at next Thursday — the last day of January to keep the promise. It was not as easy as publishing the existing codebase, but I think the result will be nice!

@megasycophant: Wikidot is implemented in PHP. It uses some other open-source software. Currently we are setting up www.wikidot.org and dev.wikidot.org and we will try to put all the details there.

@ifavada: I doubt Wikidot can be installed in a shared-hosting environment. This is caused by requirements: Wikidot relies on the PostgreSQL database and a few PHP extensions that could be difficult to find at most providers. But hopefully we could make some workarounds for it in the future.

About the donations: I think there might be a way to support open source developers directly, but we need to think how to do this. We do not want to support Wikidot.com by donations, but it would be indeed nice to support the open-source development. But no details yet.

Thank you all. Working with Wikidot, although not easy, is a great experience and I hope that by opening the development and making it free we would enter the next major stage. And I am more than sure it will be exciting :-D

Michal

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

culzboyz 1201402379|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Really nice!

I can't wait for both!

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Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

felipe98 1201551390|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

:-

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Rasky 1201651258|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I, for one, would be much happier if the development could happen in public. There's no point in open-sourcing a software if the development always happens behind the curtains. You don't get a community to develop, if you are not open with them in the way you develop. This mythical "wikidot 2" for instance: where are the infos about it? It's fully hoarded.

And a related point: the forums are filled of bug reports, suggestions for new features, etc., and there's absolutely no answer to those posts (if you exclude the community itself trying to help out). There's no official bug database where to file issues, there's no official plan saying when a certain feature will be added (or if it will be added at all, and if not why). And so on. If wikidot becomes open source but this lack of communication doesn't cease, there are few chances it will be improved by community (and many chances it will simply be forked).

Sorry for the rant, but I'm satisfied with wikidot till now, and still I'm very concerned about the lack of attention to the existing users from the developers.

last edited on 1201655757|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by Rasky + show more

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

michal frackowiak 1201679896|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

We are working on improving the situation so that communication could scale well with growing popularity of Wikidot.

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

Jack Button 1203300895|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Michal — it is clear that you are one of the world's gentle people — who are not greedy. It might be good to explain a little more of your business plan. We all know that there is no free lunch. It might even be cheering if you told us that you can maximize your income by giving everything away free — except the income that you share from ads.

It is a bit sad that you have to justify being generous and open by explaining that this is really the best way to make money — when, more likely— it simply the best way for you to fully release a new force in the world by promoting the combination of the Internet and collaborative writing.

Either way, I am cheered that you are who you are, Jack Button

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

gwpl 1203683123|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Hi Michał,
Me and my friends can't wait for open release of wikidot.
It will be great gift to open source community.
I hope it will help in increasing wikidot's popularity.
I believe it will help in finding commercial clients interested in maintaining their wikidot's installations, customising to their corporation structure, and other kinds of (paid) support.

I wish you best luck.
Grzegorz

Re: Open Source, open development... opening this month!

West Papua 1206138627|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I have browsed around many Wiki open source codes and tried most of them. But NONE of them as good and as simple and very beautiful as Wikidot. Very good work. We thank you

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