[R-wiki] Wiki pages in other formats - caveats

[Philippe Grosjean]

Hello,

I just want to mention a problem with providing wiki pages in a 
different format (many people ask for the R tips in a single HTML or PDF 
page). Accessing tips, or any other pages, in a different format 
**breaks the potential to edit easily the original pages**. It is the 
strength of the Wiki (every reader can easily become an author) that is 
lost. All people that prefer to read the R tips in a single HTML, or PDF 
page will **not** tend to contribute to the writing of those tips (they 
could even ignore totally the original Wiki site). We could then arrive 
to the situation that a limited number of "wiki freaks" actually do the 
work (in editing the Wiki pages) for a large group of readers being pure 
passive consummers of HTML or PDF "digests" of these pages.

It is a little bit (with some exageration!) like if R was **not** Open 
Source and only the R Core Team had access to the code, and then, they 
spread only binaries. R would never be what it is without the Open 
Source approach (meaning easy and direct access to the code; just type 
the name of a R function in your running R session, for instance).

For the Wiki, it is the same: the Wiki can only grow if people use it as 
it should be: reading pages **directly in the Wiki**, and being only one 
button click away (the 'Edit this page' button appearing on any Wiki 
page) from contributing to it,... otherwise, we got much less 
contributors and the Wiki dies from a lack of fresh material to keep it 
alive.

Those days, Internet is widespread enough to be considered as widely 
available. So, it is not a major drawback to have to connect to the R 
Wiki site to read those pages. Moreover, I made much effort to get a 
better navigation, especially in the tips sections... and I received no 
comment on it, so, I consider that everyone is happy with the new 
sidebars navigation system ;-)

To conclude: **do prefer reading the R Wiki pages in native format, 
rather that in HTML or PDF "digest" form!** It is the whole Wiki concept 
that depends upon your acceptation of this approach: to be always one 
button-click away from editing what you are reading.

Thanks,

Philippe Grosjean