[Foundation-l] English Wikipedia ethnocentric policy affects other communities

James Hare messedrocker at gmail.com
Thu Dec 21 00:48:08 UTC 2006


I like that idea -- where usernames are automatically transliterated
depending on which wiki you'd go to. If you're on a wiki that uses Latin
alphabet, then the name is in Latin script. If on Hebrew Wikipedia, Hebrew
script, etc... It can work like the Automatic Conversion script on Chinese
Wikipedia.

On 12/20/06, Titoxd at Wikimedia <titoxd.wikimedia at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> For the record, the relevant policy is tagged as disputed, as I've done so
> now. See [[:w:en:Wikipedia:Username]].
>
> It would be really nice if the users who have participated in the
> discussion
> here could do so in the project talk page.
>
> Titoxd.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: foundation-l-bounces at wikimedia.org
> [mailto:foundation-l-bounces at wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Gerard Meijssen
> Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 5:04 PM
> To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] English Wikipedia ethnocentric policy affects
> other communities
>
> Brion Vibber schreef:
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> >
> > Neil Harris wrote:
> >
> >> Different-script blocking on en: must therefore stop as soon as SUL is
> >> implemented.
> >>
> >> But, since human-readable usernames are essential to managing the wiki
> >> system, and for many people names not in their native script are not
> >> human-readable, there must necessarily be some sort of solution to the
> >> name-incomprehensibility problem before SUL goes live.
> >>
> >
> > I should just point out that SUL *changes nothing* with regard to this
> > situation.
> >
> > It has always been preferable for the same username to mean the same
> > person on all wikis, but it isn't enforced until the system is ready to
> > do that. That's all SUL does.
> >
> > A person may have different usernames on each wiki; they've always been
> > and always will be free to do that. SUL does not change that.
> >
> > A person may also use a nickname for their signatures which is cuter or
> > easier to type. Always have been, always will be. SUL does not change
> that.
> >
> > It might be useful to be able to make nicks more pervasive in their
> > visibility. SUL does not change that.
> >
> > That doesn't depend on SUL, nor does SUL depend on it in any way.
> Hoi,
> With SUL intended to provide Single User Login, the functionality and
> use of SUL is frustrated when people are then forced to create a user
> when the English language Wikipedia insists that it has to be in a Latin
> script.
>
> You can not implement SUL and then say that it is OK to frustrate its
> central premiss.
>
> Thanks,
>     GerardM
>
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