# UseModWiki — deep dive (findings)

**Date:** 2026-06-14 · **Source:** SHARD-WP-0003 T9 · **Subject:** UseModWiki, Clifford
Adams's flat-file Perl wiki — the lineage root of much of the field.

## Why this dive

This is a **lineage** dive, not a new-capability one. UseModWiki is the **ancestor**: the
minimal flat-file page+history wiki the c2-era engines and **MediaWiki Phase I** descend
from (Wikipedia ran on UseModWiki, 2001–2002). It pairs with
`research/260608-c2-wiki-origins/` to record *where the page+history model came from*. It
adds no new shard capability beyond the minimal flat-file floor (UC-82, Oddmuse) — its value
is **historical grounding** and confirming the floor is genuinely the field's common root.

## 1. The model

- **Perl CGI** (`wiki.pl`), single-script, descended from AtisWiki → CvWiki → UseModWiki
  (c. 2000), by Clifford Adams.
- **Flat-file storage**: each page stored as a text file (under a `db/` data directory),
  with **page history** kept (older revisions retained as files / in the page record). No
  database.
- **Linking**: **CamelCase** (`WikiWord`) auto-links by default; later added **free links**
  `[[Like This]]`. This is the canonical CamelCase-naming lineage (UC-25).
- **Open editing**, recent-changes, simple markup — the c2 ethos in a portable script.

## 2. Lineage

- **MediaWiki Phase I** *was* UseModWiki — early Wikipedia ran on it before the PHP rewrite
  (Phase II/III). So UseModWiki is the **direct ancestor of MediaWiki/Wikibase** (T2) and a
  sibling-root of the c2 tradition.
- The **flat-file page+history model** here is the shape Oddmuse (UC-82), TWiki's file store
  (UC-40), and others elaborate — confirming the **minimal file-store floor** is the field's
  common origin, not a modern simplification.

## 3. Capability profile

Essentially **identical to the minimal floor** (UC-82, Oddmuse):

| Dimension | UseModWiki |
|-----------|------------|
| Attachment mode | **file-store** (flat files under `db/`); CGI, no API |
| Addressing | page = file; **CamelCase** name = identity |
| Structure | flat page space; CamelCase link graph |
| History | flat-file retained revisions (may be limited) |
| Native query | none |
| Translation | simple wiki markup → Markdown (lossy) |
| Write granularity | page (file) |
| Access | open editing (optional admin password) |
| Provenance | timestamp, optional username |

## 4. INTENT mapping

- **Reinforces the minimal flat-file baseline** (UC-82): UseModWiki is the *historical*
  instance of the graceful-degradation floor — attach via its flat files; partial history
  surfaced honestly.
- **CamelCase naming** (UC-25): the canonical source of WikiWord auto-linking — the page
  model's name/identity and link-resolution must accommodate CamelCase-derived identities.
- **Open wiki** (UC-01): the c2 open-editing ethos at the root.
- **Lineage grounding**: confirms shard-wiki's "Git-based Markdown" page model descends from
  (and must remain attach-compatible with) the flat-file ancestor.

**No new UC** — UseModWiki adds historical grounding, not a new orchestration scenario;
its capabilities are subsumed by UC-82 (minimal flat-file baseline) plus UC-25 (CamelCase).

## 5. Architecture notes for SHARD-WP-0002

- **T11:** UseModWiki = a second instance of the **minimal/floor profile** (with Oddmuse);
  confirms the floor is the field's common root, so the floor profile is the right baseline.
- **Naming/identity:** CamelCase-derived page identities (UC-25) are part of the legacy
  identity surface the adapter must parse (and translate to the page model's identity).

## 6. Open questions

(None new — covered by UC-82 partial-history honesty, catalog open-Q30, and the c2 origins
record. CamelCase resolution is UC-25.)

## 7. Sources

- UseModWiki — usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl (the wiki about itself); Wikipedia: *UseModWiki*,
  *MediaWiki* (Phase I history)
- prior: `research/260608-c2-wiki-origins/`; `research/260614-oddmuse-deep-dive/` (minimal
  floor, UC-82)

## 8. Traceability

**No new UC** (reinforces UC-82). Enriched: UC-01, UC-40, UC-25, UC-36, UC-41. Lineage noted
for the origins record. Architecture cross-ref: SHARD-WP-0002 T11 (minimal-profile lineage).