[Imc-alternatives] OurSpace (was: Radical MySpace?)

[Jay]

Hi Strypey and all,

Thanks so much for your comments, always!  I like what you say about 
our leading by example and trying to support Crabgrass or something like it.

I'm getting the sense now that working with software like Crabgrass, 
or Activism Network, at least for the forseeable future, may really 
make sense rather than our having to put everything together from 
scratch.  I think the ideal would be for our site to be built 
completely with code like Drupal that everyone can tinker with, but 
if that means the site will never get off the ground, that point is moot.

So, should we try to connect with Activism Network, work with 
Crabgrass, keep thinking of developing our own social networking 
software, do all three....?  Certainly working with anyone at Riseup 
would be great, for all the obvious reasons, in addition to the fact 
that we already know some of them.  As for Activism Network, on 
http://www.activismnetwork.org/developers/ they do offer an 
"indymedia example" in their navigation list.  So, maybe we know them too.

Actually, looking through the Activism Network site, I had a hard 
time finding information on the developers but seem to have come upon 
it: http://www.activismnetwork.org/ourproject.html.  It looks like 
the developers, Aaron and Nick, live in Philadelphia, and Nick lives 
about two blocks from me.   I'm going to e-mail them right now and 
try to connect with him.  The software seems to be written in PHP4, 
though on Aaron's site he says he's into programming drupal, so maybe 
there would be a way for this software to blend right into what we're doing.

In the meantime, we should also hone in on our questions for 
Mycelium.  Strypey, you came up with a couple questions for them, 
didn't you?  Could you consolidate them so Sheri or I can use them to 
be in touch?

Jay

At 7/7/2007, you wrote:
>Kia ora koutou
>
>Quoting Jay <jay at fundamentalchange.net>:
>
> > I don't know anything about Ruby on Rails.  Does anyone here know how
> > to use it?
>
>Not I.
>
> >> That's the question I have.  Would it make sense to focus on using
>this software for the social networking parts of the site, weaving in
>our own content/informational functions? <<
>
>The answer to this question depends in a way on what sort of uptake
>Crabgrass gets from developers and early adopters. But then the uptake
>depends to some extend whether clusters of people like us get behind
>it and promote it. So it's sort of chicken and egg question.
>
> >>  How universally accessible and known is Ruby on Rails code?  We've
> >> been very conscious about trying to use a code that has a large
> >> development community so we'll never find ourselves at the mercy of
> >> a few over-tapped code-slingers. <<
>
>That's a good point and another question to ask the RiseUp/ Mycelium
>Network folks - why did they choose R on R?
>
>I just got pointed to an existing piece of software called Activism
>Network written in PHP that does exactly what the Mycelium folks have
>proposed. Here's a demo site:
>http://www.campusactivism.org/
>
>I'm not very familiar with PHP yet but maybe some of the Drupal coders
>on the list could check it out and give us their opinion?
>http://www.activismnetwork.org/developers/
>
> >> My caution would be that I believe we should make consicous efforts
>to make this kind of distributed network "feel" coherent. <<
>
>I think this is exactly what the AlternativesIMC site could offer. A
>first point of contact where people can ask questions about how the
>net can help their group or project achieve its goals. A place to ask
>experienced users for their opinion of openplans vs. riseup or
>wikipedia vs wikihow or (for the really brave) php vs. plone ;) A
>place where people proposing the same kind of project can find out if
>there is already such a project they can join or people doing related
>work that might want to join theirs.
>
>I'm conceptualizing it as being like a high mountain top with room for
>lots of people to sit and talk and a good view of the web service
>terrain laid out below.
>
> >>  I love the massive unified database idea, with the caveat that if
> >> someone is coming to the alternatives site, and wants to be part of
> >> the alternatives site community, s/he should be able to feel as if
> >> s/he is part of somthing as huge and all-encompassing as a global
> >> movement for justice, but also something as personal and inspiring
> >> as a community of people who are working together, both on and
> >> offline, toward certain goals. <<
>
>That's why I like the idea of having an iteration of something like
>Crabgrass (or Activism Network) running as part of our site, so that
>we are leading by example rather than just talking about and
>critiquing other people's efforts.
>
>Rnb
>Strypes
>
>--
>"You cannot buy the Revolution. You cannot make the Revolution. You
>can only be
>the Revolution. It is in your spirit or it is nowhere."
>- Ursula K. LeGuin (The Dispossessed)
>
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