Re: Update

[Christopher Blizzard <blizzard@appliedtheory.com>]

Roger Dingledine wrote:
> 
> 
> So one question we need to sort out is whether we want the standardized
> description format to be different for different categories of news, or
> one single format, with various headers optional depending on the category.
> In either case, we would probably have a different form for each category,
> and the real question is just how we store it. I guess this is very much
> related to the syntax we're using for storing it. Chris -- which one is
> easier/simpler/better?
> 

The impression that I got was that most people were using a relational
database of one kind or another for their database back ends.  If they
aren't they probably don't have a lot of data.  As I discovered before
moving to one, it gets tough to manage and query all those flat files.
:)

Anyway, from what I've seen we seem to have three major components that
are somewhat disparate:

o Software announcements like those on freshmeat
o Press announcements from companies and other independent news agencies
o Commercial software listings like those on Linux Mall

Obviously there is some carry over here; you can make announcements
about commercial software or articles can refer to free software
listings or other similar things.  My suggestion would be this:

o All nodes of the news network offer a gateway that will generate
listings in a format that is TBD
o All nodes' gateways will use a common transport method that is still
TDB

Each site has their own storage requirements and needs.  In order to
participate they just need to be able to generate listings as above and
implement the transport method.  We can always share software that
generates the reports.  After all, we're all into Open Source (tm)
software, right?  :)

So in order for this to continue we need to define the data elements
that each of the three formats above include, how we want to format it. 
After that we can figure out how we want to move it around as people
will have more experience with the software that's out there.

I can start writing out dtd's for the above methods...I think that the
one that I have up already covers articles anyway.  I don't cover
software, commercial or otherwise.  That's up to the people that have
experience with it.  I suggest xml though.  I like it.  :)

--Chris

-- 

------------
Christopher Blizzard
http://odin.appliedtheory.com/
------------