Timwi wrote:
Why exactly are you trying to cache the entire namespace on a single Web request? Shouldn't you cache only those that the Web request actually requested? In other words, it should not have tried to cache all the templates in the MediaWiki namespace, but only those that were actually used by the Web requests. I would have thought this is the purpose of a cache: to store that which is commonly or recently accessed.
Then you'd have to make dozens of separate cache requests on every page view (increasing time and network overhead) or know ahead of time what you'll need to fetch (we're not really structured that way). Since the complete set of messages is relatively small (64-100k uncompressed) it's easier to grab a single stored array than to pick and choose which ones you think you'll be needing.
There isn't supposed to be anything in the MediaWiki namespace except the user interface messages.
-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)