Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:23:08 +0200 From: emmanuel@engelhart.org To: offline-l@lists.wikimedia.org CC: abbasjnr@hotmail.com Subject: Re: [Offline-l] [KIWIX] 0.9 beta1 for Win/Mac/Linux is out!
Difficult to give an answer. I know they are a few things I want absolutely to be fixed and part of them are not so trivial. So I would say: we do our best to release 0.9 final version ASAP.
I'm not a tech guy, but I totally understand that there might be some bugs that you may need to rectify.
I think, for you, as the end user, the most important is that it does what you want, and I think Kiwix 0.9 branch still works pretty good.
By Kiwix 0.9 branch, you mean the version that we used in Kenya? I was working with Jessie from the Foundation to create a separate version with some Kenyan topics in it. The list of topics are here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Offline_Projects/Content_Development/Schools/.... It would be great if we would get these topics in, since I doubt that there will be a major difference in the Zanzibari syllabus with that of the Kenyan syllabus. > For an official department I understand they need a little bit more
guaranty about the software. My answer would be : (1) we are open to any structured project with concrete aims, timeline, ...
I totally agree with you. I have also suggested a meeting with the Zanzibari folks so that we can discuss these project details thoroughly.
(2) if they want a professional support contract, this is also possible.
What do you mean by ''professional support contract''?
Abbas, hope to see you in Haifa. If you want, we could speak more in details about your needs.
Oh, I'm sorry i wouldn't be coming to Wikimania this year :( Sincerely Abbas.
On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:15:42 +0000, Abbas Mahmood wrote:
I think, for you, as the end user, the most important is that it does what you want, and I think Kiwix 0.9 branch still works pretty good.
By Kiwix 0.9 branch, you mean the version that we used in Kenya? I was working with Jessie from the Foundation to create a separate version with some Kenyan topics in it. The list of topics are here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Offline_Projects/Content_Development/Schools/... [1]. It would be great if we would get these topics in, since I doubt that there will be a major difference in the Zanzibari syllabus with that of the Kenyan syllabus.
Although I don't know exactly which version you use, this is one of the 0.9 branch (I guess the alpha6 or alpha7).
Really important is to make a difference between the software and the content (ZIM files & fulltext search indexes). Kiwix, as a project, provides both, but content do not depend on software. There is no particular issue for me to build special ZIM files... as long as you exactly know what you want.
For an official department I understand they need a little bit more guaranty about the software. My answer would be : (1) we are open to any structured project with concrete aims, timeline, ...
I totally agree with you. I have also suggested a meeting with the Zanzibari folks so that we can discuss these project details thoroughly.
Great!
I don't know how is your setup at WMKE, but please take care that you have someone with a good know-how of the software with you. Someone with skills in the software business would be ever better.
(2) if they want a professional support contract, this is also
possible.
What do you mean by ''professional support contract''?
Kiwix, like any free software, is provided as it is, without any guaranty. This is not exactly what big structures want to deal with: they need security/guaranties. This is the purpose of a professional support contract. Here is a page with a little bit more details http://www.ehow.com/facts_7563410_definition-software-maintenance-support.ht...
Emmanuel