A real life technology tree would be cool

Let's get it started. Anyone who's interested can star this repo now and we can start chipping away on it as we have time.

https://github.com/nicholascgilpin/universal-build-tree

This might be a book you'd be interested in! https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/

Let's get it started. Anyone who's interested can star this repo now and we can start chipping away on it as we have time.

https://github.com/nicholascgilpin/universal-build-tree

Exactly. It could be built incrementally as well, with placeholders, until the relevant experts are consulted who can fill out the details.

Let's get it started. Anyone who's interested can star this repo now and we can start chipping away on it as we have time.

https://github.com/nicholascgilpin/universal-build-tree

Cool! I can't promise any contributions, but I hope it succeeds. 2 things: it looks like this is a platform for generalized build/tech trees, and I think that is the right approach. I think you need a "poster child" project though, like what Wikipedia is to Mediawiki. Pick something that everyone can benefit from, for example the "civilization build tree". And start drawing attention to it, which will draw attention to engine powering it.

Imo, the biggest area to focus will be reducing the barrier to entry. We're people who are comfortable with version control, but your average person isn't. The underlying software can still be version controlled, but you need a way for normal people to add/edit/remove nodes so that they can start contributing. You also need a system for inferring experts in different areas, and allowing them elevated privileges.

This project is actually on my near-term TODO list. I've been planning on implementing it as a recipe site where every ingredient is a recipe itself.

It's also on mine. Want to team up?

hah, i wanted to build that same thing too. but limited to food only. should have been thinking bigger. never got around to it though. good luck! hope it's as cool as it sounds

Check out https://www.opensourceecology.org/

Oh yes, a live gantt-like graph of everything ala lewis dartnell. Where's the kickstarter :)