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

Tue Jul 10 02:13:31 UTC 2007

On Mon, 2007-07-09 at 21:49 -0400, David Zwarg wrote:
> Folks:
> 
> I know Aaron Kreider, the primary developer of Campus Activism.  We  
> met a while back, and he was supportive of using his software for  
> something like an IMC.  We considered it at the time, but we weren't  
> thinking on the same scale.  Now that it's come back around, it  
> warrants a closer look.  I can get in touch with him, should I invite  
> him into the list?  I'm sure he's got a lot of great insight.

I have had contact with Aaron in the past as well, testing the software
over here in Australia, but that was way back, I have had a hard time
keeping up with everything, so fallen back to one main project atm ..

Aaron is definately worth asking on the list! he has done some awesome
work

Dave

> 
> z
> 
> Quoting Jay <jay at fundamentalchange.net>:
> 
> > 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)
> >>
> >> mobile: 021 11 77 578
> >> Community Access News: http://www.indymedia.org.nz/
> >> Free Culture: http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en/
> >> Artist Rights: http://www.creativecommons.org/
> >>
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