Meta Portal

[Friedrich Lindenberg]

Hi,

> Why go the extra step of common hosting etc?

First, as you have probably noticed, it is not too easy to just get
access to LF and the Votorola server is extremely slow to access from
Europe (at least that has been our oberservation). Thus a part of what
we're doing is just making those apps available.

But I think the larger benefit will be the hosting. This will allow
smaller groups to very easily adopt some LD solution without having to
care about infrastructure. None of the implementations are easy to
install so this could otherwise turn into a real concern. With the new
offering, we'll be able to offer an adoption path that only requires
the commitment to using the software and learning how to use it. Which
is enough.

> Agreed. Not even sure it is a good idea. I think it is something we could
> develop as part of the Meta Portal - particularly if we can fund a trial
> project that several LD implementations can benefit from taking part in.

I think that the easiest way to go forward is to assemble a lot of
smaller projects that we can supply with software (and services) and
that we can then evaluate. We should take care to document those
carefully to help others to more easily make their choices in the
future. Once we feel comfortable with the results from the small
projects, there are a lot of larger NGOs and companies that are just
waiting for LD and will also be able to provide more extensive funding
where necessary.

> LD Implemantations
> Would be good to know what the languages and dependencies each of the
> implementations use?

Votorola: Java, Tomcat, PostgreSQL, Perl, some flavour of Unix. AFAIK
LiquidFeedback: Lua, (+mod_...), PostgreSQL, *maybe* Haskell? (RocketWiki)
Adhocracy: Python, lots of Python packages, Java, some SQL DB,
Memcache, rabbitMQ.

> Funding and resources
> Are any LD implementations funded? If they are who by? Are they supported by
> an institution / university? What are the resources available to each
> implementation - servers, developers etc? What resources would projects like
> to be found / fund raised for?

I can only answer this for Adhocracy, which is currently actively
developed by two people, with two more expressing interest in joining
the effort. We have no formal support or funding and as of now and I
think that's OK. Should the project find serious adoption, I'd enjoy
developing this stuff full- or part-time, but that's not a requirement
or even a concrete plan.

Anyway, I hope I answered some of your questions,

 Friedrich