Difference between revisions of "Main Page"

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<font size="5">'''Convivial Tools Database'''</font><br>
 
<font size="5">'''Convivial Tools Database'''</font><br>
 
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This website is a database about people and concepts related to [[Convivial Tools]].
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This website is a database about people, things, concepts and movements related to [[Convivial Tools]]. [[Ivan Illich]] coined the term [[Convivial Tools]] in his 1973 book [[Tools for Conviviality]]. Convivial Tools can be defined as tools which allow the user to operate with independent efficiency.
  
[[Ivan Illich]] coined the term [[Convivial Tools]] in his 1973 book [[Tools for Conviviality]]. Convivial Tools can be defined as tools which allow the user to operate with independent efficiency.
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This database website is a companion to the [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org conviviality.ouvaton.org] website, which remains my main showcase on the subject of Convivial Tools. The present website is a grab-bag of more hastily-written or less directly relevant pages. Some articles on the present website were copied over from that other website (they are tagged as [[:Category:Copied from conviviality.ouvaton.org]]), which seems a bad idea, since any modifications to one copy should then also be made to the other.
 
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This site is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_is_a_work_in_progress Work in Progress]. It replaces my earlier [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia], which got bogged down in the attempt to be overly formal and comprehensive. Links to pages that have yet to be created appear as [[red links]]. All categories are attached, directly or indirectly, to [[:Category:Root]].
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==The Convivial Tool==
 
==The Convivial Tool==
The central part of this website seeks to describe the [[Convivial Tool]] as a possible object of design and marketing. See the following categories:
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This part of the website seeks to describe the [[Convivial Tool]] as a possible object of design and marketing. See the following categories and pages:
*[[:Category:Convivial Design]]: characteristics of the convivial tool - see [[Convivial Tool Characteristics]]
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*[[:Category:Convivial Design]]: characteristics of the convivial tool
*[[:Category:Convivial Product]]: production and marketing of the convivial tool - see [[Convivial Product]]
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**Introductory page: [[Convivial Tool Characteristics]]
 
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*[[:Category:Convivial Product]]: production and marketing of the convivial tool
I have imported into these categories relevant pages from my abandonned [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia].
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**Introductory page: [[Convivial Product]]
  
 
==Thematic Topics==
 
==Thematic Topics==
This part of the website tries to situate Convivial Tools within the broader framework of alternative technology. See the page [[Thematic Topics]] for a summary. The main thematic topics are listed below in approximate chronological order:
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This part of the website situates Convivial Tools within the broader frameworks of alternative technology and social change. See the page [[Thematic Topics]] for a more detailed summary. The main thematic topics are listed below in approximate order of their chronological development:
*[[:Category:Historical Roots]] of the ideas behind Convivial Tools - see [[Historical Roots Narrative]]
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*[[:Category:Historical Roots]] of the ideas behind Convivial Tools - see the introductory article [[Historical Roots Narrative]]
*[[:Category:Post-War Cybernetics]] - see [[Post-War Cybernetics]]
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*[[:Category:Post-War Cybernetics]] - see the introductory article [[Post-War Cybernetics]]
*[[:Category:Whole Earth]] - see [[Whole Earth]]
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*[[:Category:Sixties Counterculture]] - see the introductory article [[Sixties Counterculture]]
*[[:Category:Appropriate Technology]] - see [[Appropriate Technology]]
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*[[:Category:Whole Earth]] - see the introductory article [[Whole Earth]]
*[[:Category:Ivan Illich]] - see [[Ivan Illich]]
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*[[:Category:Appropriate Technology]] - see the introductory article [[Appropriate Technology]]
*[[:Category:Hacker Generation]] and the invention of the personal computer
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*[[:Category:Ivan Illich]] - see the introductory article [[Ivan Illich]]
*[[:Category:FOSS]] - see [[Free and Open Source Software]]
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*[[:Category:Convivial Education]] - this category needs to be added, since much work has been done on Convivial Tools for educational purposes 
*[[:Category:Web]]: the web as a convivial system
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*[[:Category:Hacker Generation]] and the invention of the personal computer - see the introductory article [[Hacker Generation]]
*[[:Category:Open Source]] as a movement (including [[:Category:Open Design]])
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*[[:Category:Postmodernism]] - see the introductory article [[Postmodernism]]
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*[[:Category:Web]]: the web as convivial technology - see the introductory article [[The Web]]
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*[[:Category:FOSS]] - see the introductory article [[Free and Open Source Software]]
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*[[:Category:Open Source]] as a broad movement - see the introductory article [[Open Source]]
  
The scope of these thematic topics turned out to be too wide. Some of the pages have been transferred or copied into my [http://interdb.org Internet Database] and [http://iuserguide.com Internet User Guide]. (Note also that a category on "wikis" has been deleted since this subject is covered on my [http://toolswiki.ouvaton.org Wiki History Database].) I'm still trying to figure out what to do with all this material.
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The scope of these thematic topics is too wide. Some of the pages have been transferred or copied into my tentative (and very incomplete) [http://interdb.org Internet Database] and [http://iuserguide.com Internet User Guide] websites. Detailed pages on [[wiki]]s have been transferred to my [http://toolswiki.ouvaton.org Wiki History Database].
  
==Theory and Practice==
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==About this website==
I'm adding two supplementary sections to the site, as follows:
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[[User:Michael|Michael Slattery]] created and maintains this site.
*[[:Category:Convivial Theory]]: elements for a work-in-progress about the theory of convivial tools - see [[Convivial Theory Outline]]
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*[[:Category:Convivial Projects]]: a grab-bag of planned or possible projects related to convivial tools - [[Convivial Projects Outline]]
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I'll be adding material here in the coming weeks (some of which I'll import from my other websites).
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The website is a structured collection of pages grouped into [[Special:Categories|categories]]. (Note that a page can belong to several categories, and that a category can be nested within others.) All categories are attached, directly or indirectly, to [[:Category:Root]]. Links to pages or categories that have yet to be created appear as [[red links]]. For a look behind the scenes, see [[:Category:Scaffolding]].
  
==Is this Website a Wiki?==
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Is this Website a Wiki? The website operates under [[MediaWiki]] software, and thus has the potential to be a [[Wiki]]. However, to prevent spam, the site is currently configured so that only I can edit pages.
This website operates under [[MediaWiki]] software and thus has the potential to be a [[Wiki]]. However, the site is currently configured so that only registered users can edit pages - and there is only one registered user.
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==See Also==
 
==See Also==
*The precursor of this website, the unfinished and abandoned [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org Convivial Tools Encyclopedia].
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*The companion website, [http://conviviality.ouvaton.org conviviality.ouvaton.org], my main showcase about Convivial Tools.
*[[About this Site]]
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*[[:Category:Cooperation]]: a site-within-the-site, the beginning of what could be a separate project on the subject of Cooperation
*[[Site Map]]
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*[[Road Maps]]
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*[[:Category:Scaffolding]]
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Latest revision as of 14:23, 7 January 2014