[pmwiki-users] Announce: Slender, pmwiki-based wiki making a fresh start

[Kathryn Andersen]

On Sat, Jan 20, 2007 at 01:32:12AM +0000, J. Meijer wrote:
> ! The opportunity
>  
> I feel there is a place for a a single *prominent* second syntax that
> departs significantly from the current. It will help balance PmWiki
> and also make it *unique*. With users excited about this (but not
> entirely convinced), having both in the same wiki,  the safest bet
> will be PmWiki. This may help a lot in spreading it. 

IMHO, if one is going to spend effort in having a prominent second
syntax for PmWiki, it would be better expended in supporting Creole[1],
since a common wiki language across different wiki engines is something
that will benefit everyone, not just PmWiki users.
Making Yet Another Wiki Markup just contributes to the fragmentation
of wiki markups, which contributes to the confusion naive users get when
they try to use wikis.
 
> Whether or not the final syntax attracts female users or not is up to
> themselves to decide. I intend to remove the 'female syntax' reference
> in the presentation once the proposal gains body, as it'll then speak
> more for itself. 
  
I've already removed it, since you indicated you wanted to remove it,
but weren't able to access pmwiki.org in order to do so.

> ! Female syntax
>  
> I insist a 'female user' is simply anyone that isn't a professional
> (and indeed feels more like a child): things should work the way users
> operate, not the other way round. I insist there isn't just one such
> mode (pm-papa-wiki), but 2 (Papa & Mama Wiki)  will do (and enable the
> in-between (..)). 

You *insist*, do you?  So, you consider it impossible for females to be
professional IT experts?  As a female computer programmer who has been
working in the field for 18 years, I am insulted on the behalf of all
the other female IT professionals (who make up about 20% of the IT
workforce), whose intelligence you have just maligned also.

No wonder the number of females graduating in computer science has
dropped from 36% to 28%[2], with this kind of attitude still being
spouted by men who *ought* to know better.

> Remarkable: my announce-email didn't have a reference to a 'female
> syntax' in it, yet the first to respond were indeed female users.
> There is indeed a need? 

Funny, I didn't notice that the responses were overwhelmingly
*positive*.

[1] http://www.wikicreole.org/wiki/Home
[2] http://www.mines.edu/fs_home/tcamp/cacm/paper.html

Kathryn Andersen
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