If you are interested in comparing Wikis, a good place to start is at the WikiMatrix. In my opinion, Socialtext is the company to watch. Not so much because it would be easy to implement under Mac OS X. In fact, their FAQ states MySQL support is still being developed. While, I might agree with the folks at InfoSpaces when they posted their blog, Socialtext 2.0: not yet there, the fast pace development of the software gives me faith that they will get there. What interests me the most is the work Socialtext developers have been doing with the API interfaces and the involvement in the open source community. Check into the CEO, Ross Mayfield Weblog or company’s blog for recent developments. There is even an area maintained for customers to exchange information, call Customer Exchange.
At the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), Socialtext released Socialtext Open. Socailtext distribution includes wikiCalc, which is the social spreadsheet, and Wikiwfg, and WYSIWYG editor. Very interesting products.
If you want to read more, TechCrunch has a posting by Marshall Kirkpatrick, “SocialText aims for wiki 2.0.” And of course, there are podcasts. Kirsten Jones talked to Perlcast about the REST API beta. The podcast is available along with reading material. Last month, CEO Ross Mayfield joined Phil Windley, Matt Asay, and Scott C. Lemon in a review of the technology news of the week. Before Wikimania 2006, InfoWorld’s Jon Udell had a podcast with Ross Mayfeild about Socialtext’s decision to release Socialtext Open and its relationship with WikiCalc. PodTech has Ross Mayfield talking with Andrew McAfee about Web 2.0 for Enterprise. Jennifer Jones talked with Ross about wikis and their use for companies both large and small in the podcast “Delving Into the Real Value of Wikis.” There is a video cast at the start of this month entitled, “Inside the first Wiki Company, SocialText.” PodTech has additional podcast/video cast available at their site.
It is an interesting company and leader in the Wiki world.
