Re: [Bug-gne]Classifiers

[Mike Warren]

Tom Chance <address@hidden> writes:

> You'd have to have an overall frontend which includes every article,
> so that very minority views got a fair viewing (otherwise whats the
> use of submitting a pro-sadism article if nobody can see it?).

I agree. GNE itself should provide such a ``classifier'', preferably
as an example of minimal classifier, such that interested groups could
take the code and make their own classifier.

> a) How would you access different classifier's "versions"?

How do you mean ``versions''? Like ``view everything'' or ``filter
away nastiness''? These could be potential modes of a single
classifier or two different classifiers.

> b) How would you know which to look in

GNE could have a ``master list'' of all known classifiers (which may
or may not exist on GNE's Web site) and the user could check out a few
and pick the one they like best.

> c) Why would you only look in one classification system, unless you
> wanted to browse for articles and you found their's handy.

This would really be the point of the classifiers: they filter out
information which is ``useless'' (obviously a relative term) and keep
stuff which is ``interesting''. If your definitions of ``interesting''
match one classifier more closely, you'd probably use that one more
often.

> Searching would be independent of a classification system [..]

I don't think so; I view the classifiers as the ``only'' interface
into the back-end, so searching should logically only take place in
articles which are ``in'' (that is, not filtered out) of a particular
classification.

GNE's ``everything in'' classification would obviously be a good place
to go if you really wanted to search everything...

There are multiple ways to write search engines, so it makes sense
that this meta-data is contained completely within the
``classifications''. Now, we might separate a true ``filter'' system
and a true ``searching'' system logically in the code, but when I
refer to a ``classifier'' I mean both of these things.

> So I would say what would be best is not to have an open system
> where you can "make your own filter".

But what if there are a bunch (or a few) people who don't like any of
the existing classification/search front-ends available for the GNE
repository?

Anyway, if the code is GPL (which is should be) there would be
absolutely nothing stopping interested groups from writing their own
classifier; it is my view that we should *encourage* (not discourage)
such things and make the classifier system as easy and straightforward
to extend and change as possible.

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