Re: [directory-discuss] Random thought on fsd and wikidata

[bill-auger]

On Thu, 1 Nov 2018 15:13:47 +0100 Laura wrote:
> Since data on the fsd seems mostly old and not very up to date...

one thing i can say about that introductory statement is that "old"
and "out-dated" are not the same thing - much of the software listed in
the the FSD is several years old and has not been updated in several
years - that would be the reason why those entries on the FSD have not
been updated in several years, as there is nothing new to say about them
- but that does not imply that they are not good and useful software - i
would be concerned that a directory that is itself younger than those
programs may not include those programs simply because they are "old" -
their omission would constitute a downgrade in the quality of the
service that the FSD provides - surely some of the entries are truly
"out-dated"; meaning that there is some important new information regarding that
software for which the entry could be updated to reflect - but any
similar directory would face that same issue eventually - the
presumption here is that wikidata would be more dedicated to and
capable of keeping its data up to date than the FSD - but what is the
evidence for that? - according to the wikipedia article about wikidata,
it has only been fully usable for 2 years, so i would be inclined to
consider it premature to throw all of one's eggs in that particular new
basket


On Thu, 1 Nov 2018 15:13:47 +0100 Laura wrote:
> I was wondering: does the fsd need to exist at all? Can't it be merged
> into wikidata? Wouldn't it be better to spend time on other projects
> than this? For example, we could just add a new property to wikidata
> called "fsf-verified" and I think this would pretty much do everything
> the directory does.

that presumes that wikidata is a well-known and trusted source of the
same information, one that every reader of this list would recognize
as such, and one that is expected to survive for many years beyond
it's initial fad phase - speaking for myself, this email is
the first i have heard of it so im guessing none of those presumptions
are yet justified - this proposal would at least need to explain what
exactly is wikidata and in which ways could it provide the same service
as the FSD before this discussion could even begin

but the main argument against this proposal is already present in the
proposal itself - that is, it seems to be indicating that wikidata would
index non-free software beside free software - that means the FSF would
not want to anyone use it; much less to officially endorse it and
direct people to it