Cool.. Well I am opinionless right now. I still have to learn more about the benefits of databaseless vs. database driven wiki systems.. if databaseless is not worse in any significant way (security/reliability and performance wise) and more of you think it's ultimately a better choice then we'd choose that.

If most still think mediawiki is the way to go then we'd wait and install when it's released (I'll be checking up on it frequently).

Thanks

I've installed dokuwiki here: http://www.libervis.com/dokuwiki+doku.htm for a test run.

It seems to be distorting the sites styling for some reason though I haven't found its own style file yet...

One other thing caught my mind. Dokuwiki seems to be under a "Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike" license which is already getting quite close to being controversic.. I mean, what constitutes commercial use? Should this limit be imposed at all?

I haven't made a definite decision yet.. Both ultimately seem to be good systems so neither would probably be a mistake to use.. at least technically.. I prefer the mediawiki license (GPL).

Actually.. dokuwiki is because of this limit essentially not entirely Free Software. Freedom to share is restricted (and for no apparent justifiable reason I can see) to only noncommercial sharing (which can mean alot). According to the Free Software Definition that's not Free Software.

Limitation to noncommercial distribution is in breach with freedom 2:

It doesn't say freedom to share as long as you don't put a price on your distribution service (like a CD on which it may be included). It just says freedom to redistribute copies, no conditions.

We wont use dokuwiki per our commitment to use only Free Software in Libervis Network.

Maybe we can try some other wiki systems before mediawiki module is release. I'll probably install pmwiki and see if it can be integrated to our layout.

Thanks
Daniel

Daniel,

You're mistaken about DokuWiki, both in functionality (from your first post) and from a license standpoint. The DokuWiki License FAQ explains it very clearly, but the short version is: the DokuWiki SOFTWARE itself is released under the GPL - so it's completely free and open source - while the CONTENT of DokuWiki.org (not the DokuWiki software, but the information stored in it) is available under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license - which makes that particular content also free to use for non-commercial purposes, like understanding how to use the DokuWiki software. Now, the default skin comes with the Creative Commons button and link in it by default, but you can easily remove that information from the site by editing the template file. In the end, your content is yours to offer freely or protect as you like.

Obviously, I use DokuWiki myself, and I've been really happy with it. In fact, I find the structure alot easier to work with than MediaWiki. Plus, just as you said about pmwiki, DokuWiki DOESN'T USE A DATABASE - it's completely text-based. It's really fast, and if you need to re-organize the data into a different structure, you can either copy the files to the new structure you want, or use a free plugin that's available. I definitely think you should give DokuWiki a try. If you're used to MediaWiki, it takes a little getting used to DokuWiki, but there's a converter from MediaWiki to DokuWiki format online, and you can even download the source code to run on your own.

Having used both MediaWiki and DokuWiki, I highly recommend DokuWiki for all but very specialized needs.

--Ryan

Hi rufar,

That was a long time ago, but I appreciate clearing it up in this thread anyway. I am no longer a free software purist (a LOT has changed in my thinking since), but it's still good to know. I'll consider using DokuWiki if I will need to set up a wiki again (I'm still working with web sites).

Cheers