On 3/11/06, Steve Bennett <stevage(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 3/11/06, Anthony DiPierro
<wikilegal(a)inbox.org> wrote:
You've changed a lot from the early days.
What started out as a
laissez faire "let the community decide for itself" attitude has grown
more and more despotic over time.
Microsoft probably didn't have internal policies and procedure
documents when it was just Gates and his buddies working in their
apartment, either.
Jimbo seems to be demonstrating a responsible attitude in the face of
one of the few threats that could really hamper Wikipedia's continued
existence or growth. And at present, a grand total of one article is
"office protected". Think about the Seigenthaler incident...*anything*
that prevents that happening again is probably worthwhile, even if the
odd toe gets stepped on, and even if we do temporarily give in to
squeaky wheels.
Wikipedia isn't Microsoft. There's a big difference between running a
non-profit organization and running a for-profit corporation. Even
then, Wikipedia isn't really either. Wikipedia, after all, has been
around before the foundation was even created. It is in essence a
community of people, which can and will exist with or without the
foundation. Lawsuits aren't going to tear apart Wikipedia, not unless
the community gives itself over to the foundation.
Anthony