From a recent Packt Publishing press release:
Following on from the success of Wikipedia, which counts itself as one of the top ten most viewed websites on the Internet, InstallationWiki.org will provide its users with a continually updated resource, written by experts, that will help solve any software installation problem.
InstallationWiki.org has been developed using the open source MediaWiki software package and is supported by UK publisher Packt. The website has initially been populated using installation chapters from Packt books.
The aim is for InstallationWiki.org to become a one-stop source of information for installing software.
With users generating the majority of the content, the aim is for the site to grow into an exhaustive library of installation guides, covering everything from setting up a social networking platform to installing an open source Voice over IP (VoIP) system.
Although this may sound unreasonably ambitious, consider:
- The resounding success of Wikipedia
- That Packt is seeding InstallationWiki.Org with content from its own titles
That’s a great start for a great idea!
Also consider that embellishments will be provided by the community that develops around InstallationWiki.Org. As Wikipedia has demonstrated, that can be a much more sustainable and scalable model than that of traditional authorship.
There’s already some excellent content available for installation prosumers!
Ian,
I have also jumped on the wiki bandwagon. Recently I persuaded the team that I am a part of to forgo the traditional documentation route and try the wiki way. We are a scientific group dispersed both geographically and organizationally (government, industry and education). In the past we used a web site but the material would go out of date and was hard to maintain properly. The thought of sending electronic documents back and forth was considered but hard to get going and once complete would be static as well. The wiki concept of multiple authors, instant updates, and web collaboration seems to fit our requirements quite nicely. I will let you know how it turns out and perhaps provide a lessons learned update.