[Wikipedia-l] Tarballs of the database (was Re: is_sysop)

[Kurt Jansson]

Hi!

> > Speaking of which; Jimbo, we really need to have a periodically
produced
> > database dump tarball available.
>
> Hey, I just noticed that there *is* a database dump available now at
> http://www.wikipedia.com/tarballs/ (as of March 21)! Awesome, thanks!
>
> However, the old usemod database has vanished from there. Since the
old
> edit histories aren't merged in yet, this is a problem...

We should also keep in mind, that in about ten years there will be
scientific studies about the evolution of certain Wikipedia articles,
and in about 25 years there will be an old Wikipedia tarball lying next
to an old Linux kernel in the [[Museum of Free Software and Open
Source]] (existing since 2017).

Even today it would be nice to see the complete history of an article -
is this an problem of discspace or speed? Can it be solved?

Bye,
Kurt