[IPOL discuss] web development

[Nicolas Limare]

Hi,

> I think this raises the question of the web framework. [...]
> Basically, I think there are three questions:
> 
> -Should it be a web framework like Django or Rails or should it instead
> be a content management system (CMS) like typo3 or zope?

I think a CMS is the quick solution, limited to handle the web
pages. It comes with its more or less rigid publishing workflow. A web
framework implied more development work, but will be more flexible and
extendable.

So, the real question is not CMS vs Framework, it is more short term
vs long term, and it is a matter of available workforce.

For the moment, I chose a CMS (ikiwiki) to have a quickly working IPOL
prototype. I think from now the correct correct way is the
framework. Same for the demos. The first version, still used on
mw.cmla.ens-cachan.fr, was a plain CGI script. The current version
integrates with a (light) web application framework.

> -The second question will be on which language the system should run. I
> think there are at least Ruby, Python, (server side) JavaScript, Perl,
> PHP and Java. For each language there is at least one system which
> offers all functionality we need.

Like everyone, I have some language preferences, but I will resist the
temptation to start the debate as languages wars are the most common
and heated (thus often enjoyable yet sterile) discussions among
programmers...

> -So I guess the third question is who is going to do the job, because
> he/she has to invest quite some time to make interactive stuff like
> forums possible (define styles, install modules/plugins, extend plugins
> for review-specific workflows, ...).

First, I think IPOL is still too tied to me, and I think it would be
healtier if future developments are not done by me, even if I can (and
intend to) be part of such developments.

Then, I want to stress a few points, even if some may seem obvious:
* Some real work is needed, IPOL can't run just from its content
  authors and reviewers.
* Web development is more than web editing, it is designing and
  implementing the published document model (what is an article in
  IPOL?) and workflow (what are the steps from a draft to a published
  article, and beyond?).
* An image processing researcher is not a web developer. Some
  researchers may be fluent in web publishing, and maybe in web
  development, but these skills are usually not in the resume of just
  any computer-savvy researcher.

So, the best person for IPOL development is probably not one of the
potential IPOL authors or editors. As proposed by Daniel, a "research
assistant" may be a possible way. I don't know what's possible on the
Cachan side. Or other sides (other French labs, Palma, Montevideo,
...).
 
Jean-Michel, what's your opinion on these questions and the idea and
possibility of remunerating someone for such works?

Meanwhile, maybe something can be done to answer Pascal's original
message, only asking to have the reviews available. Jean-Michel
answered by asking for forums, then Daniel headed towards general web
development, but let's be careful not to fail and do nothing because
of too much ambitions. For the moment, with the existing tools and
ressources, forums are not possible[1], but it is possible to publish
the reviewers' comments in a web page accessible from the article
page.

Best,

[1] I thought we could also have forums with the ikiwiki "comment"
feature, but this proved incompatible with an early IPOL design
decision: hide and protect all the "active" part of the site behind
user authentification.

-- 
Nicolas LIMARE
http://nicolas.limare.net/                         pgp:0xFA423F4F
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