[Hwdb-devel] debian hwdb

[Zenaan Harkness]

On Mon, 2004-06-14 at 13:24, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> > A problem I recognize points in another direction. Since the DB schema I
> > proposed already looks more complicated than the HWDBs currently in use
> > by "the competition", I wonder if it is possibly already
> > over-engineered.
> 
> Well, given the way I am choosing to approach it, designing a scheme and
> software is kind of putting the cart before the horse::
> 
> a) I assume (long-term/ average) a few device submissions per week.
> 
> b) This is so small as to make designing automated submission software a
> big overkill, at least initially.
> 
> c) Item b) is particularly the case for me, since I am supporting
> mutliple kernels, os/ distributions, etc - ie. a large scope, so I'm
> guessing the schema might, heaven forbid, get more complicated (or at
> least broader) over time.

I realise c) doesn't quite make sense as I wrote it.

These are the immediate benefits I see of a manual interface,
and there are probably others:

* Manual submission will produce better submissions (the hwdb team
can engage the submitter where required (perhaps nearly always) to
try to get more and better information.

* As we build the DB, manual submissions will give us the scope to
easily and readily modify/ fine-tune the schema as needed.

* The submission interface will never be broken, incomplete or
"down for maintenance" since it's just "send us an email".

* We can launch immediately, and with a robust interface.
Ie. we won't waste time having to get the software right
before we are able to launch.

* A robust submission interface is particularly important for
manufacturers - being the primary target here (in my mind) we want
to _never_ waste their time and _always_ have submissions working.

* No elitism over whether we use PHP or Python, GTK or QT
(OK, that's probably stretching it a bit :)

cheers
zenaan