pcplantdb

[Stephanie Gerson <sgerson@stanfordalumni.org>]

It's me again.  

So I wrote up a first draft of a post for the Pc lists, and pasted it 
below.  Please read it and get back to me with comments.  A few 
questions:

-Is it too long?
-Should we give an example of the kind of information we're looking for?  
For some reason it sounds pretty abstract...
-Also, should we list the members of the "core group" - at least so folks 
out there know our names, or not?  And should we include Scott Pittman on 
this list - considering that his org is parenting us?

Bueno.  And thanks for the votes Chad, I'm going to wait to see if John 
S. or John H. respond.  But updated tallies are also pasted below.

hasta luego
*Stephanie

+++++++++++++++++
Hello everybody,

   My name is Stephanie, and I’m writing to you with wonderful news.  A 
Permaculture database project that a few of us have been looking to 
initiate, and for which I have been submitting grant proposals under the 
auspices of The Permaculture Institute, recently received funding from 
the Threshold Foundation!  So, I wanted to contact all yalls to introduce 
you to the project, and solicit participation.

   The project is called Permaculture.info, and will provide an open 
library of information about relationships between plants.  (Our ultimate 
intention is to create an open library of information about everything 
Permaculture-related, a Permaculture information web, so this project is 
part of long-term dedicated effort – but we’re sticking to plant 
relationships for now.)  Currently, there is a wealth of information 
about individual plants available (i.e. the PFAF database), but not a 
comprehensive resource regarding the relationships *between* them.  And 
considering that Permaculture, as with other systems sciences, seeks to 
weave meaningful relationships between system components in order to 
create self-regulating and regenerative systems, relationships are of the 
essence.  Permaculture.info will provide exactly this information and 
will present it in a web-like manner – in other words, the message will 
match the medium.

   So here’s where you come in.  We know that many of you have gleaned 
valuable information about plant relationships from your own experiences, 
and in a wide range of bioregions.  We hope that you will contribute this 
information, in the form of words, images, or otherwise, to this 
resource.  The effectiveness and informational value of Permaculture.info 
depends on you – the more you add, the richer it will be.  We are just 
starting up, getting all the logistics in order and writing the initial 
code for the database, but will be requesting data soon.  And if you 
would like to get more involved, you are welcome to join our listserv at 
______.  

   Thank you, and we look forward to some good cross-pollination…

                                        peace
                            *Stephanie

[Core Group]
Chad Knepp
Richard Morris
Lawrence London
John Schinnerer
John Howe
Stephanie Gerson
Scott Pittman

+++++++++++++++++

Updated tallies - 8.11.04 @ 9:00pm

-ZOPE/IBIBLIO -
Rich – prefers Ibiblio (and whatever platforms they offer) over ZOPE
Lawrence – Ibiblio and MySQL, Eden., etc. (option 4 of Chad’s list)
Steph – I’m leaving this one up to yalls… 
John S. – prefers ZOPE but willing to compromise
Chad – Use Zope and 'damn the torpedoes'.  Start on arashi and move to 
ibiblio when they get a Zope server running or buy space at johncompanies 
or some such if ibiblio doesn't; 1 to 4 of Chad’s list, in order of 
preference
John H. – ?

-DOMAIN OWNERSHIP/NON-PROFIT STATUS -
Steph – PI should own the domain, and if we do decide to go non-profit, 
do it later 
Rich – PI should own the domain, and if we do decide to go non-profit, do 
it later
Lawrence – PI should own the domain, and no to non-profit status (“All 
our time will need to be spent programming and data gathering, and 
promoting our magnificent project.”  Nice reasoning.)
Chad – PI should own the domain, no need for non-profit status
John S. – ?
John H. - ?  

-NAME – 
John S. – permaculture.info
Rich – permaculture.info
Lawrence – permaculture.info
Stephanie – permaculture.info as our domain, but not convinced about that 
as our project name (this would mean that when we say it, it would be 
“Permaculture dot info”?  Hmm…not too into with the dot thang…which is

why I’d be more down with Permaculture Information Web.)
Chad – permaculture.info
John H. - ?


+++++++++++++++
Stephanie Gerson
sgerson@stanfordalumni.org
(c) 415.871.5683


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