2009/6/16 Geoffrey Plourde <geo.plrd@yahoo.com>

If commons is not a service project, what is it? Unlike other projects which have a measurable output, Commons' sole function appears to be as a repository of free images. It is therefore very much a service project as it serves other projects through storage of images.

I don't agree with this statement.
1. any wiki project has in part a role of service for other wiki project. I.e.: we use la.source as a "repository" of original latin sources for our Italian translations of latin classics.
2. any shared file (images, movies and so on) is an independent output, that can be used both into wiki projects and by any other web user. In particular, movies often carry a "complete message" by themselves. But if you think about, pictures too carry such a complete message, and sometimes a very important one, needing lots of NPOV.

Alex