Re: [linux-audio-user] A couple of points on the state of linux audio apps

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Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] A couple of points on the state of linux audio apps
From: Paul Winkler (pw_lists_AT_slinkp.com)
Date: Tue Feb 26 2002 - 02:12:14 EET


On Mon, Feb 25, 2002 at 10:58:10AM -0500, Dave Phillips wrote:
> Absolutely. I am willing to donate the entirety of my site or as much as
> you want to use as any kind of foundation.

Well, that oughta keep me busy for a few years. :)

> I agree with Paul and all of you who would like a better soundapps site.
> Alas, I'm not the man for the job, and as many have already disovered,
> it's a big job. Anyone interested in such a site needs to consider the
> following items:
>
> 1) How to handle additions, updates, and deletions

Additions and updates are done using forms.
Here's an example:
http://www.vex.net/parnassus/resource.py
I'm not sure whether to require users to log in before adding or updating
an entry. I'm inclined to start out with no restrictions at first and
see how that goes.

Deletions are also done with a form, but require you to be logged in
with Editor privileges. Who gets
Editor privileges? Me and anyone who's interested who I deem trustworthy.
I'll make DLP an Editor whether he wants to be or not. :)
The more the merrier.

> 2) How to determine relevant categories and submissions (should we add
> video and other multimedia apps now ? TV software ? every CD player
> listed in Freshmeat ?)

I think I'll just steal the categories from your site to start with.
I'm not sure what should be the process for adding new categories.
Abusive or egregious items can be removed by Editors.

Video and TV, no.
Every CD player on Freshmeat, sure.
But the point is, it doesn't have to be me who puts them there.
I'll add to the site when I have time, but mostly I'll just check in
to make sure it's running OK and respond to bug reports etc.

> 3) What descriptive content is most relevant ? Who will write it ? (No
> minor task even if your site lists only 100 apps)

Descriptive content is part of the form... software creators / maintainers
are more than welcome to do their own.

> 4) How to establish input for user ratings, reviews, suggestions, etc.

Ratings are tricky. The easiest way would simply be a radiobutton form:
rate this app 1 to 10. But that's not very informative. I'm wide
open to suggestions here. Here's an example of a site that I think
 has a pretty decent
user review system (for musical gear):
http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Sovtek/Mig_50-01.html

There's a few categories, and you just give it a 1-10 rating in each
category; then the total shows average and number of responses.

So we'd need to decide on good categories for audio software. I can
think of:

Features
Sound quality
Stability
Ease of use

There's one other problem that I can see with ratings. Software (hopefully)
evolves. So a rating from 2 years ago may be totally worthless. I'm wondering
if it would be practical to give weighting to the ratings, such that more
recent responses count for more points.

> 5) Ad policy ?

"none to minimal" I think would be best. No pop-ups ever.

> 6) Who will host the site ?

Me.

> How permanent will it be ? How will it be
> paid for if there's a fee ?

The costs for me would be pretty low given that I already maintain a
couple other sites. I would probably have a paypal button for anyone
who feels like donating. I'd be happy if that even partly defrayed the
cost. No big deal.

> 7) Who will maintain the site against crackers, irrelevant posters,
> spam, etc. ?

Me and the other editors. It won't be possible to do anything except via the
web interface, and I won't allow uploads - or if I do, there will be a
size restriction on them.

> 8) Exactly who determines which software is included, and how is that
> determined ?

100% determined by the user community. If somebody adds it, it's there.

This is not going to come together overnight... I'm back in school full
time (40 hrs a week) and have some other projects on my plate too.
But I really want this to happen.

-- 

Paul Winkler home: http://www.slinkp.com "Muppet Labs, where the future is made - today!"


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