Collaborative design project proposal

[Magnus Danielson]

From: KA4HJH <ka4hjh at gte.net>
Subject: RE: Collaborative design project proposal
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 21:37:08 -0500

> >Yes, but no.
> >
> >The idea to collect usefull information for Synth-DIY people is a definit go.
> >However, I am not sure that a CD-ROM is the best medium. I would rather see
> >that we make a better effort on the web instead, providing material so that
> >you can use your HTML browser, get PS and/or PDFs for pretty printout etc.
> >We can make a tar-ball for people to download if they think that is a usefull
> >trick. It does not require all material to be available at the same place, so
> >material may be scattered as suitable for the editors to be able to make easy
> >updates.
> 
> We're getting sidetracked here. This has been suggested more than 
> once, and it's a totally separate project. A web page full of FAQ's, 
> etc., would be great, if for no other reason than it could be kept up 
> to date (hard to update a CD without making another CD).
> 
> Not everybody wants the same thing. What's we're talking about in 
> this thread, among other things, is a ton of extant material that 
> most people don't have access to, and don't have forever to download 
> (or whatever).
> 
> Frankly, at this point in time there is no *best* medium. HTML 
> printouts SUCK. Having things scattered all over the place is a pain. 
> It would be far more convenient to have the bulk of the stuff that's 
> NEVER going to change on one 640MB CD-ROM.

I think you actually missed a few points I made, namely that you would have
PS and/or PDF files for pretty printing and not the HTML. Also I said that one
could make a tar-ball, this tar-ball can then be loaded down by a few and a
CD-ROM image be setup if that would suite them. You could also use the tar-ball
to have the stuff directly on harddisk instead of the CDROM.

I think that if you look at Anders Spontons website for instance you will find
that you can provide large heaps of material over the web. While I presonally
don't like the ZIP format others migth not consider it such a huge trouble.
I've noted that Anders moved on to PDF format nowdays.

There are alot of material in various forms, and I for once would not at all
like to be without it. I propose another method for providing at least some of
the material but maybe in an orderly manor.

Cheers,
Magnus