On 22/03/2006, at 9:01 PM, Matthew East wrote:
Or, just learn the Moin syntax, it's not too hard.
What makes life so difficult, for cross-project people like translators, is that wikis don't differ _enough_.
They need either to use the same syntax (or sub/supersets of it), or to differ enough to be easily remembered.
I find it really irritating, and a tangible barrier, that when I enter a different wiki again, I can't remember exactly how its syntax differs from the one I used half an hour ago. That puts me off contributing, and, if I do decide to contribute, I have to allocate much more time to re-learning the syntax and testing out my pages, than I would have to the writing task, if the syntax were distinct in my mind.
Double-square brackets or single-square brackets for links? Do they use quotation marks or not? Separate link and text with a space or pipe symbol? More equals signs or less for heading-size? etc.
This isn't just my brain-damage issues [1]: I think it would frustrate people who don't have brain damage. There isn't enough distinct information to separate the processes in one's mind.
from Clytie (vi-VN, Vietnamese free-software translation team / nhóm Việt hóa phần mềm tự do)
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/vi-VN[1] Not my favourite topic, but I'm very ill/disabled. I do make myself mention it occasionally, to remind people that we are a much larger group, proportionally, online than in the on-the-street population. Computers actually help us cross some of our barriers.
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