[Foundation-l] RfC: License update proposal

[Andrew Gray]

2009/1/22 Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org>:

> A vast number of pseudonyms below have no meaning except for
> their context in Wikipedia.

Apropos of which, a thought. We have spilled a good bit of ink over
whether or not it is appropriate for the reuser to attribute
"Wikipedia users" either alone or in addition to the usernames -
should the project have a right to attribution, etc etc etc. In
practice, wouldn't it be almost essential to name the site where the
work was done *as well* as the usernames? Many of the pseudonyms, in
effect, depend on that context...

(Apologies if this was raised before - I don't remember seeing it)

An article which has had many developments and been passed on might
then wind up with an amalgamated attribution line like:

"by the United States Atomic Energy Commission (1962), Wikipedia
contributors "NukeUser", John Smith, Jane Doe and Mike Placeholder
(2004-2007), Citizendium contributors Alan White, John Smith and Betty
Green (2007-2009), and anonymous contributors."

It's not exactly smooth, but it is comprehensible, and it does seem
helpful to name the project to give some context to the names.

-- 
- Andrew Gray
  andrew.gray at dunelm.org.uk