"Charles C" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message 
news:web.456b83576bf4081b2869ae640@news.povray.org...
>I want to verify what we're doing here...  What will be downloadable?  I
> thought we were laying the groundwork for a future single(yet
> versionable/growable) package containing the entire library of things
> people contribute.  If I have that right, the website can/could be
> relatively minimal: e.g. just another page and downloadable .zip on the
> povray.org website along with some guidelines and way to submit items for
> review.  Pre-renderings & tutorials are icing on the cake.
>

That's one option.
I think the problem with that is that, if it's successful, it could grow 
quite large and could change quite frequently.
If we only make it available as a single big zipped file then everyone who 
wants access to a new addition would need to download the whole archive each 
time and would need to take care not to overwrite any changes they'd made to 
stuff they'd downloaded earlier.
Also, how would you know whether you want to bother with the new additions 
if we don't list them with graphics to illustrate what you'd be getting.

>
> The big thing on my mind regarding organization in general is how we 
> should
> organize the library itself once downloaded. I'll post my comments on this
> under "standards"...  (Or do I have that wrong - it'd be a web page with
> many downloads?)
>

I think that's part of this discussion at the moment, whether it should be a 
loose collection of objects or a highly structured heirarchical library with 
categories and sub-categories. My view is that developing a deep multi-level 
taxonomy would turn out to be something of a maintenance overhead, but that 
grouping it all into just one archive would make it cumbersome and messy.

My preference would be for a small number of areas of interest with a main 
directory for each, then a sub-directory for each contribution within that 
category. So, if you're interested in buildings you could download an 
archive that might include the cityscape generator, some models of buildings 
and some furnishings and fittings. If you're interested in space you could 
download an archive containing macros for building planets, utilities for 
converting and mapping satelite images and utilities for generating 
gallaxies. I'd also like to be able to download new contributions and 
updates without having to refresh the entire archive.

Most of the contributors to the discussion so far seem more in favour of a 
loose collection of include files where you could download one file at a 
time or a selection of files chosen from a list or through a search.

Regards,
Chris B.

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