The Oddmuse manual really needs more work. I should really reorganize it again some day, truly separate it into various parts: Introduction, for users, for admins, installation, options, for developers, extensions, references... Something like that. And while I’m at it, I should finally write the German manual. None of the German users volunteered until now. 😄
I’ve reached chapter 14 and 16 in *The Timeless Way of Building* by Christopher Alexander, ISBN 0-19-502402-8. I am finally understanding what a PatternLanguage is all about. The pages we created on MeatballWiki or CommunityWiki don’t really form a pattern language. Or maybe only a small number of pages actually do.
From the book, here are some constraints:
1. The pattern language is made of **patterns** and their **relations**.
2. A pattern describes a **context** in which forces arise, a **problem** these forces cause, and a spacial configuration (since he talks about architecture) allowing these forces to resolve themselves – a **solution**.
3. The patterns have to be **precise**.
4. It must be possible to **draw** the spacial configuration.
5. The relations between patterns can be drawn, too.
6. Patterns build upon each other. There can only be a handful of direct sub-patterns, however, such that we can always **visualize** it.
7. The measure of the quality is how you **feel** about the various patterns and the things they let you express. This is important because in the end it is all about the **quality without a name**.
And that brings me back to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
’’The Wiki:ThereforeBut pages on MeatballWiki are the likeliest candidates for Patterns. Most of these float around SoftSecurity, if memory serves me correctly, and most of the pages in SoftSecurity are not well-written. Many are ShallowPages! The primary purpose of MeatballWiki to date has been to explore SoftSecurity, so that isn’t surprising. Most of the pages are junk or near junk. I know you didn’t believe me, but it’s true. Remember your test on ReworkingProblems. This is why I don’t really care about the text. – SunirShah’’