Life isn't slow on a farm, but this list needs a kick.
To that end, I've started a project page on MediaWiki.org:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:WikiFarm
Have a look and see what needs to be filled out.
With that said, I really want to dig into MediaWiki's configuration
system[1]. Putting the configuration in the DB (with a wiki column
acting as the key so farming would be easier) really seems to be the
right thing to do. Larger users (like Wikimedia) would want to use CDBS
or something snappy like that, but I'd like to start out with a
DB-backed config.
I haven't had time to really do anything with any of this, but I did
want to check in with you all to see if there was any news.
[1] http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.wikifarm/11
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Mark A. Hershberger
NicheWork LLC
717-271-1084
We currently have just over 35 subscribers. I figure it is time for me
to say something.
First of all, thanks for subscribing to the list.
This list started with a conversation that began at Wikimania. When
Markus Glaser and I held a MediaWiki meetup one of the recurring themes
was Wikifarms.
It seems that farms are relatively common. WikiApiary lists around 100
farms that have just two wikis all the way up to Wikki's 2000+.
(WikiApiary is just starting out, so I'll forgive them that they miss
Wikia's thousands.)
Despite the wide use of farms, there doesn't seem to be a "standard" way
of setting one up. So I've created https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/52721
("Create a Wikifarm profile for MediaWiki-Vagrant") that will help us
capture the "best practices" way of setting up a wiki farm.
Of course, it would help to have some best practices first. My
observation -- please correct me if I'm wrong -- is that there we seem
to create MediaWiki ghettos. Developers and administrators in the Wikia
ghetto don't communicate (much) with their counterparts in the Wikimedia
ghetto or the Semantic MediaWiki ghetto.
So, best practices. MediaWiki-Vagrant and maybe the WikiFarm extension
(does anyone use it?).
Maybe we can start the discussion by describing how we set up wikis on
our farms?
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Mark A. Hershberger
NicheWork LLC
717-271-1084