Links to our work on Federated Wiki
Almost everyone knows the power of wiki, in applications like Wikipedia
(and many others). Our board member Ward Cunningham is the
inventor of Wiki, and he continues to develop other important software
advances. He is now developing a new generation ofwiki with important new capabilities.
This new generation of wiki innovates by: 1. federated sharing, 2. drag
refactoring and 3. data visualization.
What does this mean in practical terms?
This new wiki can handle data and perform calculations. (Say, for
totaling up costs, or sustainability scores.) You can also use it
to put together your own simple calculator (or even a complex
one). That allows it to make quick but powerful comparisons
-- say, on costs, or on sustainability "externalities" (hidden costs
and benefits).
Most important, you can share and develop your own wiki tools with
others, through the web, and -- through what is known as "federation"
-- the tools can grow to be much more powerful and useful over
time. (Wikipedia is the best-known example of this collaborative
development, using an older form of open-source development -- but
there are many others.)
To read a paper about the new wiki, and the logic behind it: www.sustasis.net/wiki-as-pl.pdf
To see a 10-minute video about the new wiki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6pX0S34CZk
To go to the Github development site: github.com/fedwiki
Ward Cunningham's notes from his talk at the Splash Conference (previously OOPSLA) in Portland in October 2014:
http://splash.fed.wiki.org/view/welcome-visitors/view/splash-2014/view/federated-wiki-design-principles
Here are notes from his approach to the presentation:
http://splash.fed.wiki.org/view/welcome-visitors/view/ward-cunningham/view/wikis-open-history
