tegwick
8941e131e8
SHARD-WP-0003 T9 (final). Lineage dive: the flat-file ancestor (Clifford Adams c.2000, from AtisWiki/CvWiki) that early Wikipedia ran on (MediaWiki Phase I). No new capability -- reinforces the minimal flat-file floor (UC-82) and CamelCase linking (UC-25); historical grounding that the file-store floor is the field's common root. Enrichment-only: UC-01/40/25/36/41. Marks T9 done and SHARD-WP-0003 complete (9/9). Feeds SHARD-WP-0002 T11. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
4.1 KiB
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).