I fully agree.
May I suggest a new idea?
There already exist several uploaded models all over the world.
My idea is that our OMR repository is not a model repository, but instead simply a database pointing to models stored
wherever else. This _could_ include a server by us own, but does not have to.
The DB could point to models uploaded wherever, be it brickshelf, eurobricks, ldraw.org, or wherever else.
Inside the DB, each model is represented by a URL where it is physically stored, plus a md5 checksum of that file.
For every such model, attributes can be stored like
- the model is built properly (and this has been verified by X persons)
- all stickers or patterns are properly present
- a list of known issues like missing or substituted parts
- from which set that model was built
- year when that set appeared from TLG
and so on
The frontend of our database then would allow to search for models like this:
"give me all train sets between 1980 and 1985 containing at least 20 parts which got reviewed by at least 2 people to be correct"
This suggestion is a fundamentally different approach than creating a "PT" for models.
It allows better integration of all existing models, without having them to be copied to our servers.
This avoids the problem to ask all the existing model authors for their permission.
At the same time it avoids tedious re-creation of non omr-compliant models,
and has the charm that plenty of models are available from the start (most of them un-reviewed yet, of course)
play well
Steffen
PS, I agree with that we should drop the term "official".
I suggest titling that new thing a LEGO model-searching database.
If you want, it will in the end be a "peeron2", but with correctly built models, not only part lists.
The database could additionally match the uploaded models against existing part lists.
In the end, the new DB will be a much more powerful DB than peeron was, and this way also solve the problem of the slowly dying peeron.
May I suggest a new idea?
There already exist several uploaded models all over the world.
My idea is that our OMR repository is not a model repository, but instead simply a database pointing to models stored
wherever else. This _could_ include a server by us own, but does not have to.
The DB could point to models uploaded wherever, be it brickshelf, eurobricks, ldraw.org, or wherever else.
Inside the DB, each model is represented by a URL where it is physically stored, plus a md5 checksum of that file.
For every such model, attributes can be stored like
- the model is built properly (and this has been verified by X persons)
- all stickers or patterns are properly present
- a list of known issues like missing or substituted parts
- from which set that model was built
- year when that set appeared from TLG
and so on
The frontend of our database then would allow to search for models like this:
"give me all train sets between 1980 and 1985 containing at least 20 parts which got reviewed by at least 2 people to be correct"
This suggestion is a fundamentally different approach than creating a "PT" for models.
It allows better integration of all existing models, without having them to be copied to our servers.
This avoids the problem to ask all the existing model authors for their permission.
At the same time it avoids tedious re-creation of non omr-compliant models,
and has the charm that plenty of models are available from the start (most of them un-reviewed yet, of course)
play well
Steffen
PS, I agree with that we should drop the term "official".
I suggest titling that new thing a LEGO model-searching database.
If you want, it will in the end be a "peeron2", but with correctly built models, not only part lists.
The database could additionally match the uploaded models against existing part lists.
In the end, the new DB will be a much more powerful DB than peeron was, and this way also solve the problem of the slowly dying peeron.