[pmwiki-users] wiki farm terminology

[christian.ridderstrom at gmail.com]

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006, Tegan Dowling wrote:

> On 3/20/06, Scott Connard <connard at dsg-inc.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 20, 2006 at 11:38:53AM -0600, Tegan Dowling wrote:
> >
> >    On 3/20/06, christian.ridderstrom at gmail.com
> >    <christian.ridderstrom at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >    I've been watching this discussion and occasionally wondering if it
> >    might simplify both the process and the documentation if the basic
> >    components of a farm were part of the core distrubution.
> >
> >
> > Pm: You mean they aren't already?  What components do you think
> >     are missing?

This actually my feeling as well... or rather that it's not a farm without
additional manipulation. Maybe it's just a misconception, or maybe there
is something missing.

> > Patrick,
> >
> > I agree with you that the default configuration is VERY close to a simple
> > farm configuration.  However...
> >
> > Is $FarmD always defined? I "suggested" this a short while ago... I think
> > the sample config.php should have all /scripts/ and /cookbook/ references
> > qualified by $FarmD AND use double quotes instead of single quotes.  This
> > would allow the sample config.php to be turned into a farmconfig.php with
> > minimal changes (i.e., perhaps NO changes).
> >
> 
> Or it could start out as farmconfig.php, which is what I was getting at
> - create each by default as a single-wiki farm (the single-stein version
> of a beer stein collection) - but PM said no to that in reply to
> Christian's post.

Given sufficient reason, Patrick can change his mind. More usually
however, discussing the issue makes him/us come up with alternative ways
to solve the problem. So what is the problem?

In another thread Patrick wrote:

	To me, setting up a single wiki *is* setting it up farm style --
	there's not that big a distinction between the two.

My feeling is also that ideally, there shouldn't be *any* difference, but
perhaps there is a difference due to practical reasons. Hagan wrote the
following in the same thread from which I just quoted Patrick.

	FWIW, I'd say if it doesn't have a farmconfig.php, $FarmD etc.,
	then it isn't a farm.  One of the key features of a farm is that
	you can keep farm-wide changes and local wiki changes separate.

	This is why a normal stand-alone installation isn't a farm.  
	Adding a skin or cookbook recipe can only be done "globally".  If
	you "convert to a farm" by adding a farmconfig.php and add another
	wiki (or another dozen wikis), the skins and recipes are available
	to not only the home wiki but all of the wikis.  Therein lies the
	difference between a home wiki and what was once known as a field
	wiki.

I think this is the core of the problem... the "home wiki" is special in
the sense that it can't have any local skins etc. What I'd like is for the
normal stand-alone installation to easily be converted into a farm
installation where the original (only) wiki will then be just like any
other wiki in the farm, i.e. it can have it's own local settings and
skins.

sincere regards
/Christian

-- 
Christian Ridderström, +46-8-768 39 44               http://www.md.kth.se/~chr