I downloaded and installed the JumpBox version of MediaWiki today, and I was totally impressed with how easy it was to set up and use. JumpBox packages certain open source server software packages, like MediaWiki and WordPress, along with all of the dependencies that are required to run them. With virtualization software like Parallels or VMWare, setting up the software is as simple as double-clicking the JumpBox package.

The end result is that software that would have required a web server to operate can be simply installed on a desktop or laptop computer without needing to download and install a bunch of random components and potentially screw up your primary operating system.

I have a MediaWiki-powered wiki running on a web server of mine, but I am only using it to track my own academic research notes. Wiki markup, along with the ability to automatically save multiple versions of documents, is what appeals to me, not the ability to have many collaborators access and edit the documents. I see myself using a JumpBox MediaWiki implementation as a mirror of the server-installed wiki. If I’m someplace without an internet connection I can still work on my wiki as if I was online.

I’m downloading the JumpBox versions of Trac and Joomla! right now and I plan to give them a try next. Trac is open source software for bug tracking and trouble tickets that is used mostly by software developers. My plan for it is much less ambitious. I’d like to see if I can adapt its project management capabilities to academic research that I’m doing. Instead of following “bugs,” “fixes,” and “releases” I want to see if Trac helps the process of planning research and writing.

Joomla is a widely used content management program that runs on a variety of web servers and allows users to have different levels of access, add / remove content, etc. I’m interested in playing around with this software to see what its capabilities are to potentially recommend it to people I know.

JumpBox gives me the ability to sample all of these server programs without a lot of hassle.
The idea of using virtualization and packaging server based programs for use on personal computers is a really neat concept and so far my experience is that JumpBox has implemented it really well.