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Post by steev on Jan 14, 2016 5:06:17 GMT -5
I think I agree that this is an interesting idea, although it would involve a lot of disclosure of individual environment (not that I think that a bad thing); I admit to no expertise in computers or plant-breeding, but surely a site that could facilitate connections between people in similar ecosystems would be a good thing.
If anyone has a problem with this, I'd really like to know why I may have blanked on something.
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Post by reed on Jan 14, 2016 5:36:35 GMT -5
Google docs came to mind to me too. Of course they don't have a data base and likely won't. The spread sheet might work but it would be rather clunky and everyone would have to know how to use it and be on the same page data structure wise. If one person set up a sheet with locked data validation rules (can your do that? like in excel?) and shared it, it might work. Pretty sure anyone who wanted to (edit) would have to get a google account but I think it can be shared even without the account.
I don't know of any real data base that would do the trick of eliminating the one person or central ownership and control. So just thinking here about google sheets - set it up, lock it, share it, allow (some people) edit credentials, allow (all people) to view, allow (all people) to copy and unlock (on their own computers or in their own accounts). Then there is the little issue of table structure when you don't really even have a table structure, no way to join, run queries and the like.
I'm gonna think on this a little more.
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Post by philagardener on Jan 14, 2016 6:48:19 GMT -5
A Google account is easily set up and the password distributed among a tight group of folks who agree to a shared purpose and mode of conduct to offer a distributed control structure (like Admins/Mods in a functional forum). (However, it might be vulnerable to hijacking by any one of that group.)
A gdoc or gsheet can be set to give a wider, individually-approved group permission to edit. With a little extra work, you can restrict the fields each person could modify (i.e. their own offerings).
The document then can be shared publicly as a link for anyone to view (Google account not required).
As you pointed out, however, database functions really aren't available on that route, so growth could be limited. One could search a sheet for a variety or simply view the offerings.
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Post by blueadzuki on Jan 14, 2016 7:08:43 GMT -5
blueadzuki For that matter the less controversial mutation (irradiation or chemical) breeding could be more relevant Well, breeding could certainly go faster. You want a plant with multiple changes in traits. Fire up your computer, run out you strand. send it to your nano machines (that's how I think it will eventually be done, microscopic nanites to work like programmable mechanical viruses that can enter the cells and snip and meld the DNA mechanically to order.) and voila! Any set of traits you wanted, no matter what, could be done in ONE plant generation (provided you knew what you wanted). |
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Post by oxbowfarm on Jan 14, 2016 9:59:56 GMT -5
Please remember that HG is a very great community and knowledge resource but is very vulnerable to any decision taken by Proboards... I have been wondering for a long time, about how to implement a distributed forum, seed-list, etc.. Something where each node of the network kept it's own data, and shared it with other nodes so that every node had a peer-to-peer connection to other nodes, and there wasn't any centralized owner... Is there any forum software that currently operates in that kind of setting, and is trivial to set up and use? I also have been hoping for such a thing. It would be wonderful to have a democratic/decentralized seed sharing/information sharing system that was slightly more formalized than what currently exists but not SSE or Homegrown Goodness. I've really benefitted from HG and the knowledge here, but more and more I realize the most important thing I've gained from HG is the network of like-minded and generous gardeners and farmers. I've fairly carefully kept a paper record of all the folks whom I've shared seed with, but if HG goes down, the social/informational connection is lost. And the seed distribution, while wonderful, is very haphazard to access. You don't know what another person has unless they happen to mention it or you ask the group and someone is willing to share. The "here's what I've got" aspect of the SSE yearbook seed list is very appealing in that regard, and a database that performed a similar function (without the ridiculous tree killing paper tome) would be an incredible resource even without the breadth of membership that an organization like SSE has. nicollas, have you tried importing HG? I know of an attempt made by another member here and Proboards shut him down and blocked his IP address until he called and begged them to relent. Maybe there are better methods, that will go under PB radar? It would be nice to keep some of the info in the old threads when this board dies. Which I've realized is an eventual reality. I am glad folks like Joseph are thinking of a future transition. Ever since Alan abandoned HG for all intents and purposes the board is in a precarious state. |
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Post by gilbert on Jan 14, 2016 11:00:13 GMT -5
How likely is it that this board will evaporate tomorrow? Does somebody have to keep paying, or how does that work? Could somebody take over from Alan?
I guess with a bit of work somebody could cut and paste out threads they wanted to keep. I'm going to do something like that with my potato breeding thread, so that I have a record of it if this goes poof.
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Post by richardw on Jan 14, 2016 13:26:51 GMT -5
Could somebody take over from Alan? As oxbowfarm pointed out earlier someone already had a go at doing this but its Alan who is the only one who can hand it over? My question is can more than one person be in charge of central ownership and control of a forum site? |
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Post by reed on Jan 14, 2016 16:26:29 GMT -5
No, pretty sure not. Not without forming some kind of organization to own the account and a governing body of some kind for the organization. Back to square one.
What would be possible but not likely to happen is for everyone to have their own little web site or blog. Then as people find each other they put links to each others sites. With each site individually owned and maintained they would likely have different link lists based on who they like to keep up with or not. If somebody kept a central master site of all the links that would be great but if not that would be OK too, it might just take a little longer to find a particular person or crop information. If the person keeping a master site dropped out someone else could just replace them.
Like I said, probably not likely though cause most people wouldn't want or know how or have time to mess with it. On the other hand if it did happen, because of the way search engines work you wouldn't be able to think the word garden near a computer without one or more of those sites popping up. Also on the other hand, lots of people already have sites, all they need to do is start linking to each other.
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Post by gilbert on Jan 14, 2016 16:53:14 GMT -5
Wordpress sites are free and fairly easy to set up.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 14, 2016 19:30:40 GMT -5
I think this is worth looking into more and brainstorming about. Joseph Lofthouse, i think what could work is to investigate sync software. I know there are a number of open source cross-platform softwares designed for file synchronization out there. Most of those are probably still designed to use one central server. But there may be some that are P2P style where two (or more) people could share a folder on each persons computer and each person can make changes and they each will automatically update each other. One might then only need to syncronize a shared database file that each person could open in their database software of choice. I've never worked with database software myself, but i understand how useful they can be. I believe LibreOffice has a database function. This one looks interesting: syncthing.net/alternativeto.net/software/bittorrent-sync/?license=opensourcealternativeto.net/tag/file-sharing/alternativeto.net/software/live-mesh/ |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 21, 2016 19:18:32 GMT -5
So, oxbowfarm mentioned he was interested in some continued exploration in a decentralized file sharing platform. I'm not super technically minded, but i might not be completely useless. I still have no idea how one would add forum software, but i decided i will test out the syncthing.net software for anyone interested. I now have it installed on a computer here ready for someone to link to on their own computer. This computer is not on all the time, but often. I just have to figure out how to automatically start when the computer boots up. (if you try to connect and its not working try sending me a PM. Here is my ID: YCKSGLU-SFP4TQK-UV3FR7A-VBDL2UG-YTPI2TV-EA2DHA6-EWMQIYR-IHZOTQJ and here is a good video for setting it up: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVM5pdH3xg#t=2344.867191couple of questions though. what would this be used for? seed list sharing? pdf book sharing? forum backup? |
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