From:
wikien-l-bounces(a)Wikipedia.org
[mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Alphax
(Wikipedia email)
Sent: Tuesday, 3 January 2006 00:09
To: English Wikipedia
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Re: Ads on Wikipedia
Peter Mackay wrote:
From:
wikien-l-bounces(a)Wikipedia.org
[mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Thurston
Why shouldn't the companies making money from
the Wikipedia data at
the microscale should be the primary funders of Wikipedia?
<snip>
If, as you say, some large companies derive a
commercial
benefit from
WP and should fund us, then what is to stop them
from downloading
MediaWiki, hiring some professionals, and building their own
encyclopaedia, perhaps as a joint effort with Google along with
toolbars and popups and so on? That way, they'd get the
same benefits
as well as control over the operation and a more
focused product.
There's one thing they wouldn't get - control of the
community. Yes, WP is primarily an encyclopedia, but it
wouldn't be /anything/ without its contributors.
Granted, but I'm quite sure that recruiting a few thousand ambitious
know-it-alls isn't as big a task as you might imagine. In fact, I think
Googleopedia or Wikiexpedia would merely have to open their doors and they
would instantly get tens of thousands of enthusiastic contributors and media
exposure that we can only dream about. Remember all that fuss when Gmail
began and Gvites were being auctioned on eBay for sizable amounts?