[Open-Legislation] French civil code on git

Wed Apr 8 11:09:22 UTC 2015

On Wed, Apr 08, 2015 at 11:34:48AM +0100, Francis Davey wrote:
> 2015-04-08 11:20 GMT+01:00 stef <s at ctrlc.hu>:
> > well the data is there, to show diffs, you really don't need git. by using
> > github, you only 1/ put yourself at the mercy of a commercial service
> > provider
> The data may be "there" but I don't know where "there" is for French
> legislation - so this is nice because I can find it easily.

what are you arguing here? that you find stuff easier with github, than with
a search engine? would you do so if no one sent a mail about this project?

> > 2/ externalize the development costs of a proper userinterface for doing
> > diffs. 3/ you ignore at4am.
> I spent 5 minutes at at4am and have no idea what is usable there.

i guess this topic demands a bit more than 5 minutes. maybe erik will fill you
in. but this wants to be a tool for exactly this purpose that git is abused
for by some people. of course it's not a consumer-grade, and agreed i'd never
touch it myself. but then i don't want to whatever the unclear goals of doing
so are.

> has a two word README that doesn't tell me what I am supposed to do with
> the source once I have got it. Presumably there's a java applet or
> something that I run somehow.

well, yes, it's something i wouldn't poke with a 42 foot stick, but still, if
you're looking for a tool, this should be it i believe. or regardscitoyens
visualisation tool for amendments, if you are in a sad situation as the french
with their patch amendments.

> There's just nothing obvious on that site on *how* I actually make use of
> anything there, so I hope that explains why I might be pleased to see some
> other tool that I do understand how to use.

i hope you are the only one who wants to spend less than 5 minutes
understanding an issue and then jump right into the middle of legislating it.  ;)

> So, indeed, github is a commercial service, but so are most web services.
> At least it uses a standard system (git) which can be used elsewhere.

yes, like a hammer for hitting nails.

> > > Github also makes it easy to clone the corpus elsewhere.
> >
> > that is a feature of git, not github. also why would you do that? how
> > often is
> > that a requirement, and how often is git data the best format to do further
> > processing?
> >
> 
> What alternatives are there?

what exactly is your goal?

> I mean ones I can actually use right now and
> that don't require me to write extensive code to access? I had a look at
> Akoma Ntoso and decided that it was hopelessly wrong in design for
> representing actual legal texts and haven't bothered to look further.

i agree, the UN should stick with angryletterwriting.

> Being able to clone onto my desktop means I can read it when I am offline,
> simply, without having to worry about a brand new bit of software and
> framework.

raw data? you know, the french senate does postgres dumps. much better format
for datahandling. also useful for offline hand, and quite mature framework and
software.

> > to me this looks like people with hammers running around and seeing nails
> > everywhere.
> Not me.

did you ever put legislation into github?

-- 
otr fp: https://www.ctrlc.hu/~stef/otr.txt