Mailing List Archive

On dim, 2003-01-05 at 21:27, rose.parks@att.net wrote:
> Just because many members of wikipedia do not have the skills to make such
> changes, it doesn't mean that they don't have an opinion on them.

Then they should learn to do so or at least actively get involved in the
process, just as people who don't like their governments should become
active in the political process instead of being passive sheep who can
be pushed around.

This isn't a secret shadowy cabal; the developers' list is open to
anyone who subscribes, the archives are publicly readable, and changes
to the code are a matter of public record in our CVS repository.

'Power to the people' doesn't just _happen_ magically; the people have
to make use of their power. First step: sign up for wikitech-l and speak
up when you have an opinion!

-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)

Rose,

wikitech-l is intended for discussions about feature additions,
usability etc. Only when policy matters are concerned or when broad
feedback is useful should wikipedia-l be used. Otherwise we'll never get
anything done. Rest assured that TheCunctator will complain loudly on
wikipedia-l if he thinks that our decisions are too far-reaching.

Regards,

Erik
--
FOKUS - Fraunhofer Insitute for Open Communication Systems
Project BerliOS - http://www.berlios.de

Brion Vibber wrote:

>> Just because many members of wikipedia do not have the skills to make such
>>changes, it doesn't mean that they don't have an opinion on them.
>>
>Then they should learn to do so or at least actively get involved in the
>process, just as people who don't like their governments should become
>active in the political process instead of being passive sheep who can
>be pushed around.
>
>This isn't a secret shadowy cabal; the developers' list is open to
>anyone who subscribes, the archives are publicly readable, and changes
>to the code are a matter of public record in our CVS repository.
>
>'Power to the people' doesn't just _happen_ magically; the people have
>to make use of their power. First step: sign up for wikitech-l and speak
>up when you have an opinion!
>
This is all great theory. I subscribe to Wikitech, but a lot of
material that goes through there goes right over my head. I know that
there has been considerable discussion about using TeX for mathematical
expressions, but I can't say that I understand that debate; however,
since I have no plans to write about mathematical subjects, I can't
concern myself too much with that. That's a characteristic of many tech
debates: most people won't notice until the proposal is implemented.

I do support citizen activism, but I also undrstand that people have
their own private lives, and that causes can soak up a tremendous amount
of energy from private lives. Activists need to be careful about
choosing their causes. I've certainly spoken up on many issues here,
and I plan to continue doing so. Even so, there are many other comments
on these lists where I have an opinion, but have to accept that there
just isn't time to comment on everything. If it turns out that my value
to Wikipedia is in contributing to actual articles, who benefits from my
spending my time responding to endless e-mails. (The box was empty when
I went to bed last night, but it had 64 messages when I looked in the
morning.)

Perceived cabals don't usually develop because a minority is seeking to
control a situation, but because a majority fails to participate until
there is a crisis. When the crisis is reached the majority then find
themselves totally without background to the problem, and getting on
track is one big uphill fight. I can understan the frustration in
Brion's comments, but I can also see it from the oother side.

Eclecticology

Especily for things like that I have done a attempt to get support for
Announce-l

http://www.wikipedia.org/pipermail/announce-l/2002-November/thread.html

Because nobody was interested it has not become anything. So do not
complain now.

--
Contact: giskart AT wikipedia.be
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