Hi NetBSD people,
 
I have an idea that might be good. Wouldn't it be nice to
use wikis as part of the port specific pages? This would
alleviate the problem of stale ports appearing as being in 
guaranteed working condition with the last version of
NetBSD. People could easily post their experiences with for
example trying to boot NetBSD 3 on a Playstation 2, and
describe some tricks and stuff related to it. 

I ask for this feature because more and more end users seem
to get the idea that NetBSD "ran" on various architectures
(instead of present tense "runs") but current versions don't.

Obviously this is due to lack of involvement in the various
staler ports like for example ps2 and vax, but I think you
could remedy this for a large part if people were allowed to
wiki about it right there where people first go when they
arrive at the netbsd.org page.

For example, some guy just got his linux playstation kit and
cried foul about the outrageously obsolete linux included.
He heard about NetBSD running on everything including your
moms toaster, and even the playstation2! So he visits
netbsd.org, clicks on the appropiate ports page and sees two
very old news messages and no way to find out how to get
started. 

Not deterred, he starts browsing the web, finds mailinglist
entries about brave souls from france and the netherlands
who've built netbsd 2 for ps2, and he starts this same
process, trying to first boot a 1.5, then the 2.0 he found
and eventually starts a building of 3.0 for ps2.

Obviously this individual would like to share his experience
in a simple and non-commital way that is visible to
everyone. And I personally think WIKIs would help in a huge
amount with getting all these experiences written down so
others might benefit.

A site I think that is doing this very succesfully is
thinkwiki.org, a site dedicated to collecting information
with regards to running linux on thinkpad laptops. It is
very easy to join in and write something about what you
found out and get it online.

Anyway, just my 5 cents, I think it would really improve
people's experience with getting started AND involved with
NetBSD.

Kind Regards,


Rubin.

PS: This message was first posted on the netbsd feedback page. after
consultation with Jan Schaumann, I decided to post it here on advocacy.