MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform • Hacker News Board

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#61

Post by simonw » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:45 PM UTC

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #59

jannes wrote: post #15

It is going to be the 5th iteration of CMS/wiki software. Hopefully this is the right one. 1. Netscape DevEdge 2. MediaWiki 3. Deki Wiki (renamed to MindTouch, closed source since 2013) 4. Kuma 5. Yari There's a nice history here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/MDN_at_ten/History_...

And the problem is that each time the software changes, attributions are lost. I used to be active contributor to MDN with thousands of contributions. Countless hours of volunteer work. When the platform changed and my attributions were lost, I stopped contributing. I had no street cred anymore. I was angry. The switch to GitHub means the same problem once again. Nice way to alienate your community, MDN. Good luck wi…

It should be possible to migrate to GitHub without losing attribution. I've seen scripts in the past that build up a Git repository from scratch, back-dating contributions and crediting them to the author.

No idea if MDN are planning to do that though.

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#62

Post by nextaccountic » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #60

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the problem is that each time the software changes, attributions are lost. I used to be active contributor to MDN with thousands of contributions. Countless hours of volunteer work. When the platform changed and my attributions were lost, I stopped contributing. I had no street cred anymore. I was angry. The switch to GitHub means the same problem once again. Nice way to alienate your community, MDN. Good luck wi…

Oh no, my internet points!

Those are unpaid volunteers. If Mozilla robs them attribution for work (and yes this is work), then what's left?

Specially now that they fired every single paid worker.

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#63

Post by pygy_ » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #60

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the problem is that each time the software changes, attributions are lost. I used to be active contributor to MDN with thousands of contributions. Countless hours of volunteer work. When the platform changed and my attributions were lost, I stopped contributing. I had no street cred anymore. I was angry. The switch to GitHub means the same problem once again. Nice way to alienate your community, MDN. Good luck wi…

Oh no, my internet points!

The ability to write good tech documentation is a valuable skill. I understand the GP was upset when they lost an easy way to signal they have it to potential employers.

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#64

Post by Godel_unicode » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #60

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the problem is that each time the software changes, attributions are lost. I used to be active contributor to MDN with thousands of contributions. Countless hours of volunteer work. When the platform changed and my attributions were lost, I stopped contributing. I had no street cred anymore. I was angry. The switch to GitHub means the same problem once again. Nice way to alienate your community, MDN. Good luck wi…

Oh no, my internet points!

It's mean to make fun of people for caring about things. If people are proud of work they've done, why shouldn't they be upset when they get no credit?

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#65

Post by cambalache » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

johnfn wrote: post #48

eznzt wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's stuff like MDN that attracts donations.

Fun fact: I have an open source repo with millions of downloads, tens of thousands of active users, and, for at least a year, a prominently displayed donate button. How much in donations do you think it took in over its lifetime? Hint: it's less than $200. Donations don't really work.

Which one is it? Maybe you will win a handful of donations here.

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#66

Post by GoblinSlayer » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

fallat wrote: post #7

rndgermandude wrote: post #4

Am I the only one put off by the AWS (S3+Lambda) lock-in they seem to be creating for themselves?

and GitHub...

And kubernetes, and react, and mysql. How to add something apple to the mix?

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#67

Post by LockAndLol » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

While one org that's serious about privacy moves to Gitlab and selfhosts everything (wikimedia), another one decides to embrace Github, Google and Amazon. Why Mozilla... why?

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#68

Post by pedroma » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #60

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the problem is that each time the software changes, attributions are lost. I used to be active contributor to MDN with thousands of contributions. Countless hours of volunteer work. When the platform changed and my attributions were lost, I stopped contributing. I had no street cred anymore. I was angry. The switch to GitHub means the same problem once again. Nice way to alienate your community, MDN. Good luck wi…

Oh no, my internet points!

I assume they could've put it on their resume and gotten something from that. Now it's just baseless claims.

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#69

Post by pianoben » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

GoblinSlayer wrote: post #58

pianoben wrote: post #25

Reading between the lines, it seems obvious that Mozilla wishes to stop funding localization. Translations aren't even that expensive, especially relative to the cost of producing the docs in the first place. It hurts me to see MDN so starved of resources that they can't pay for even that small piece. MDN has been key to so many people's technical education. High-quality web documentation is an essential resource for…

If the text is in github, you can download it, backup, make an iso and share on piratebay, it won't be lost.

The concern I'm trying to express is that the translations of this content will grow increasingly stale as the original articles are updated, and will be missing entirely for new articles. People who don't speak or read one of the top 12 languages will just be out of luck, unless some generous soul decides to do that substantial amount of work for free.

Re: MDN Web Docs evolves: Lowdown on the upcoming new platform

#70

Post by Jtsummers » Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 5:53 PM UTC

wffurr wrote: post #60

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the problem is that each time the software changes, attributions are lost. I used to be active contributor to MDN with thousands of contributions. Countless hours of volunteer work. When the platform changed and my attributions were lost, I stopped contributing. I had no street cred anymore. I was angry. The switch to GitHub means the same problem once again. Nice way to alienate your community, MDN. Good luck wi…

Oh no, my internet points!

Volunteer work like that that results in visible, attributable output can become part of your resume/portfolio. You can point people to it and say, "Here are a set of articles representative of my work." Much like open source contributions (if you're not the primary maintainer of anything open source).