Re: [edict-jmdict] something easily overlooked...

[Jim Breen <Jim.Breen@**********************>]

[Dennis Schrader (Re: [edict-jmdict] something easily overlooked...) writes:]
>> Thank you for your most constructive response. Please understand that I
>> always weigh my words carefully before I send an email or address the group.
>> I therefore stand by everything I said, accordingly.

I'm trying not to get too involved in this discussion, as I don't think
it is leading anywhere useful, however I want to correct one point:
 
>> ............ Case in point: when
>> at the beginning of the year I suggested the development of a "proper
>> database", I was told that a database would be "too slow for Edict". As you
>> can well imagine, I did not bother to rebut as the response itself was
>> self-rebutting.

You have confused two issues. EDICT and JMdict have been available as 
"databases" for years. You can download MSAccess (and I think SQL)
versions from various places. You can load the XML JMdict into a number
of database systems (one of the reasons I created the JMdict structure
in 1999. Both Pawel and Stuart have done this as part of their
prototyping. The discussion earlier this year in which a database was
described as "slow" was about WWWJDIC and its functionality; not about 
EDICT/JMdict as editable systems.

Getting the JMdict/EDICT update process into an online multi-participant
database environment has been my goal for years. I intended to do it
myself, but have found it difficult to free up enough time to build the
skills to do this solo. One of the reasons I started this list was to 
focus the community of users/contributors on this task and to see if the
community could pick it up and run with it as I am finding it hard to do
it by myself.

If you indeed have `little patience with "slowsky" on a database project 
that should be finished by now', I can't help you much. A
"countable-measureable results-oriented environment" is great when
someone is paying for salaries and resources, but when one is trying
encourage volunteers to give up large amounts of time, there isn't any
scope to be cracking whips.

Jim

-- 
Jim Breen                                http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/
Clayton School of Information Technology,               Tel: +61 3 9905 9554
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia                  Fax: +61 3 9905 5146
(Monash Provider No. 00008C)                ジム・ブリーン@モナシュ大学