UR at Turning Point

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 4829

Posted by srdiamond15
2005-12-30 16:47:14

First off, I’d have to disagree that your criticisms don’t pertain to the program. They go to one central element of the program’s design, the choice to allow only a single database open at once; and its encouragement of centralizing information in a single database. If your needs were in some way special, it might be said that the criticisms don’t go to the program itself. I think it is entirely possible for a program to fail in its mission because of a single bad design choice.Sometimes these choices are so fundamental that they may be very hard to remedy, even if the developer wants to. It is also possible for a program not to work for a given user because of the user’s idiosyncracies.

I think the test for UR is approaching. One of the questions is whether the program will be able to accommodate the needs of users who legitimately prefer multiple databases, by incorporating the main advantages of a multi-database approach within a single database paradigm. If they succeed, some users will still prefer multiple databases, but this could be counted as idiosyncracy, if the basic reasons people opt for that approach are accommodated.

Getting the advantages of multiple databases in UR will probably require a sophisticated system of filtration, with hoisting only a special case. At least that’s the position I’ve taken in the UR forum.

Stephen R. Diamond

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