Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

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Simbioz
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Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by Simbioz »

According to https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Special:Version, freecad wiki is at 1.35.2. Also, it's stated in https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.35 that:
Warning: MediaWiki 1.35.0 to 1.35.4 contain a very severe security issue. Please upgrade to 1.35.5 or later. See 2021-12 security release/FAQ for more information.
May I also point out that version 1.38 (15 March 2022) is the current stable one.
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chennes
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by chennes »

@yorik @kkremitzki
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yorik
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by yorik »

The mediawiki software is a hard-to-manage dinosaur... That's the main reason why I'm pushing for a markdown-based system ;)
Will have a look at this with @kkremitzki
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Simbioz
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by Simbioz »

yorik wrote: Tue Jun 28, 2022 9:43 am The mediawiki software is a hard-to-manage dinosaur... That's the main reason why I'm pushing for a markdown-based system ;)
According to this site (yes it's from a competing wiki system but it seems quite neutral), most premium grade alternatives to mediawiki are paid. Free ones like DokuWiki and Wiki.js both have drawbacks. The former is designed for small, lightweight wikis, and the latter seems to lack many features and suffers from UI bugs. Plus, you will probably want an "import" function to migrate all the content...
So at first sight the picture is not very promising
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yorik
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by yorik »

But we are not seeking another system. We HAVE another system already: https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-documentation
It is meant to use in FreeCAD via the Help addon (which should not be an addon anymore and become fully integrated once working perfectly) but also to generate books, pdf, and whatsoever.

It is currently an automatic translation of the wiki, but at some point when we decide we don't want the wiki anymore, it can fly by its own wings. I think nowadays editing a markdown file on github/gitlab/whatever is as easy as editing the mediawiki, plus we have billions of other advantages: there is no more dependency on any software, there is easy backup as many copies circulate the web, we can plug it into a translation system such as crowdin, we can have release tags that match the FreeCAD releases, we can generate API documentation easily, etc...
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Roy_043
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by Roy_043 »

But let's not forget that there are also some disadvantages. The main two are:
  1. For casual editors the Wiki is more accessible. Having to create a GitHub account to edit the new documentation will be a barrier for some.
  2. We use many templates on our Wiki pages. Markdown does not seem to support those. This will probably mean that our layouts will have to be simplified.
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Simbioz
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by Simbioz »

I may have overlooked it, but I did not happen to find a "discussion" section for each page on the github documentation.
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adrianinsaval
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by adrianinsaval »

Also casual editors would have to make PRs for their edits and someone will need to spend time approving each one
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by yorik »

All these are of course valid concerns, but:
Roy_043 wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:55 am For casual editors the Wiki is more accessible. Having to create a GitHub account to edit the new documentation will be a barrier for some.
They have to ask for a wiki account too. Which is far more annoying, one needs to first post on the forum, then send a DM, then an admin has to act...
Roy_043 wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:55 am We use many templates on our Wiki pages. Markdown does not seem to support those. This will probably mean that our layouts will have to be simplified.
That is true. Indeed this move would lead to some simplification. But that would not necessarily be a bad thing IMHO
Simbioz wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:44 pm I may have overlooked it, but I did not happen to find a "discussion" section for each page on the github documentation.
No, but on the other hand we would have issues, could comment on commits, have pull requests...
adrianinsaval wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:30 pm Also casual editors would have to make PRs for their edits and someone will need to spend time approving each one
That could be rather a good thing, no? And we could be rather liberals with permissions, and give write permission to all frequent contributors
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Re: Current mediawiki is outdated and has security issues

Post by Roy_043 »

Simbioz wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 12:44 pm I may have overlooked it, but I did not happen to find a "discussion" section for each page on the github documentation.
I see that you are using the Discussion pages on the Wiki. Keep in mind that very few editors, if any, consult them. Almost all Discussion pages are empty.
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