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tangles, links, and webs

I began to re-create Enquire on the Compaq. I wrote the program so that it would run on both the luggable Compaq and the VAX minicomputer made by DEC that I was using at CERN. I didn't do such a good job the second time around, though: I just programmed in the internal links, and never got around to writing the code for the external links. This meant that each web was limited to the notes that would fit in one file: no link could connect those closed worlds. The debilitating nature of this restriction was an important lesson.

It was clear to me that there was a need for something like Enquire at CERN. In addition to keeping track of relationships between all the people, experiments, and machines, I wanted to access different kinds of information, such as a researcher's technical papers, the manuals for different software modules, minutes of meetings, hastily scribbled notes, and so on. Furthermore, I found myself answering the same questions asked frequently of me by different people. It would be so much easier if everyone could just read my database.

What I was looking for fell under the general category of documentation systems—software that allows documents to be stored and later retrieved. This was a dubious arena, however. I had seen numerous developers arrive at CERN to tout systems that "helped" people organize information. They'd say, "To use this system all you have to do is divide all your documents into four categories" or "You just have to save your data as a WordWonderful document" or whatever. I saw one protagonist after the next shot down in flames by indignant researchers because the developers were forcing them to reorganize their work to fit the system. I would have to create a system with common rules that would be acceptable to everyone. This meant as close as possible to no rules at all.

This notion seemed impossible until I realized that the diversity of different computer systems and networks could be a rich resource—something to be represented, not a problem to be eradicated. The model I chose for my minimalist system was hypertext.