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Re: [WikiEN-l] Hello world! (was "Hello world?")

Civility Echoes

"Hello world?"

Tony Sidaway

14 Jan 2011 14 Jan '11

12:01 p.m.

'So Jimmy's claim that the first edit was "Hello world!" isn't to be taken literally?' I don't see why not. It's far from unusual for a tech-savvy user to type that phrase into a document as a first test. I would be surprised if anyone expressed a good reason to doubt it.

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Thomas Dalton

14 Jan 14 Jan

12:13 p.m.

New subject: Hello world! (was "Hello world?")

On 14 January 2011 12:01, Tony Sidaway <tonysidaway(a)gmail.com> wrote:

'So Jimmy's claim that the first edit was "Hello world!" isn't to be taken literally?' I don't see why not. It's far from unusual for a tech-savvy user to type that phrase into a document as a first test. I would be surprised if anyone expressed a good reason to doubt it.

Indeed. Jimmy says he did it. It's a very plausible claim. There is no evidence against it. Therefore, I suggest we assume Jimmy is being accurate.

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Carcharoth

12:25 p.m.

New subject: Hello world! (was "Hello world?")

On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 12:13 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On 14 January 2011 12:01, Tony Sidaway <tonysidaway(a)gmail.com> wrote:

'So Jimmy's claim that the first edit was "Hello world!" isn't to be taken literally?' I don't see why not. It's far from unusual for a tech-savvy user to type that phrase into a document as a first test. I would be surprised if anyone expressed a good reason to doubt it.

Indeed. Jimmy says he did it. It's a very plausible claim. There is no evidence against it. Therefore, I suggest we assume Jimmy is being accurate.

One possibility, though, is that he typed it at some point, but there was an earlier edit he forgot. Memory can be a selective thing. What you would look for, if going further into this, is the first time he recalled this and where and to whom. Ultimately, though, it is not a critical piece of information. Just a nice bit of trivia, and a nice story. BTW, Jimmy's speech last night was very nice. Have there been any reports yet about that event? Carcharoth

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Thomas Dalton

12:47 p.m.

New subject: Hello world! (was "Hello world?")

On 14 January 2011 12:25, Carcharoth <carcharothwp(a)googlemail.com> wrote:

One possibility, though, is that he typed it at some point, but there was an earlier edit he forgot. Memory can be a selective thing. What you would look for, if going further into this, is the first time he recalled this and where and to whom. Ultimately, though, it is not a critical piece of information. Just a nice bit of trivia, and a nice story.

Sure, Jimmy is certainly capable of making mistakes, but unless there is evidence to suggest that he did it seems sensible to me to assume that he is correct. As you say, it's not a critical piece of information so we don't need to try and verify the story.

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Joseph Reagle

2:22 p.m.

New subject: Hello world! (was "Hello world?")

On Friday, January 14, 2011, Thomas Dalton wrote:

Sure, Jimmy is certainly capable of making mistakes, but unless there is evidence to suggest that he did it seems sensible to me to assume that he is correct. As you say, it's not a critical piece of information so we don't need to try and verify the story.

The first edit to Wikipedia is something I think merits verifying. I'll ask Wales.

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Anthony

3:36 p.m.

New subject: Hello world! (was "Hello world?")

On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 7:13 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On 14 January 2011 12:01, Tony Sidaway <tonysidaway(a)gmail.com> wrote:

'So Jimmy's claim that the first edit was "Hello world!" isn't to be taken literally?' I don't see why not. It's far from unusual for a tech-savvy user to type that phrase into a document as a first test. I would be surprised if anyone expressed a good reason to doubt it.

Indeed. Jimmy says he did it. It's a very plausible claim. There is no evidence against it. Therefore, I suggest we assume Jimmy is being accurate.

Except that he doesn't say what it is he did, and that there is evidence against it. I'd assume nothing in this case. It may have happened. It may not have happened. As you say, "it's not a critical piece of information so we don't need to try and verify the story". At the same time, we shouldn't be repeating it as though it is a verified fact.

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Anthony
Carcharoth
Joseph Reagle
Thomas Dalton
Tony Sidaway