wiki.dlang.org: How about replacing MediaWiki with a Git repo?

[Lance Bachmeier]

On Tuesday, 4 August 2026 at 11:28:52 UTC, Vladimir Panteleev 
wrote:

> #### On replacing the wiki with a Git repository:
>
> The main thing to understand is that if we move the content to 
> Git + static site generator, it will no longer be a wiki. The 
> defining property of a wiki is that *anyone* can edit it - even 
> if they don't have an account on some other platform, and even 
> if they live in a country where creating a GitHub account is 
> not possible. This also defines the moderation model: if a bad 
> actor engages; we restore the desired state by rolling back bad 
> edits after the fact, rather than gate-keeping every edit 
> before it lands.
>
> We already have a static website backed by a Git repository: 
> dlang.org. The wiki exists specifically to be the complementary 
> thing: a place for community contributions which anyone can 
> edit.

Making no attempt to restrain myself here: Turning it into a Git 
repository is the worst possible idea. It would turn into 
nitpicking and then someone will add their personal quality 
filter with unstated rules and then proposed changes will be left 
sitting for months because the one person that keeps the informal 
rules in their head isn't willing to put in the time to review. 
Then you'd have to do a rebase and you'd have to add examples 
outside your expertise and on and on.

> #### On moving to a hosted platform (GitHub or any other):
>
> I'm not against it, especially if there is the DFL is in favor, 
> but we should consider it carefully. We would lose sovereignty 
> over our content, and platform functionality can be taken away 
> (deprecated and then removed) at any time. The above 
> considerations should be taken into account as well.

I don't personally see any reason to do extra work given the 
minor benefit. If this is something folks want to do, all that 
needs to be done is enable the wiki on one of the project's 
existing Github repos. If that's successful, only then should 
changes be made  to the current wiki.