[WikiEN-l] Fwd: [Wikipedia-l] Deletions, speedy deletions... and retributions...

[David Gerard]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Frederick Noronha <fred at bytesforall.org>
Date: 26-Apr-2007 09:24
Subject: Re: [Wikipedia-l] Deletions, speedy deletions... and retributions...
To: wikipedia-l at lists.wikimedia.org


On 26/04/07, Ronald Chmara <ron at opus1.com> wrote:

> Managing/having a mailing list is not notable, managing a website is
> not notable, managing a journal is not notable, nor is being a
> journalist, nor being a frequent F/OSS contributor, nor starting a ...

I'm not talking about just about any kid managing a mailing list, but
rather the guy who started this (and which today plays a significant
role in a media-poor society):
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-news-goanet.org/2003-August/000276.html

Why would, for instance, Jimmy Wales' work at a global scale be
considered perfectly legitimate (and, of course, it is) but not Herman
Carneiro's at a Goa level? How does your above grid fit this
comparison? Or, do we accept hierarchies of importance, which are very
much defined by the same old traditional concepts that have been
dominating encyclopaedias over the centuries (and which the Wikipedia
is an alternative to in the first place)?

Yet, Herman Carneiro is considered "non-notable" by Wikipedia's standards!

And who has the energy to fight every single deletion decision?

It's just very discouraging to be a contributor to the Wikipedia these
days.... you tend to feel untrusted, with every attempt at
volunteering seen as suspect! Okay, growth and fame (of the Wikipedia)
comes at a price...  so are we being victims of our own (Wikipedia's)
success?

Those making the decisions also need to realise that there's no such
thing as a "global standard". It's not fair to take a standard from NY
and apply it to Goa, India (population 1.3 million, a rustic society
till forty years ago!)

It's hard, if not impossible, for us guys to cope with your standards.
I've been a professional journalist for 23 years, and yet giving
references to my work (in the format Wikipedia expects) doesn't come
naturally to me, as it would, say, to some professional librarian or
research scholar in the University of Technology, Sydney, for
instance!

Just out of curiosity, I wonder how many who decide on deletions grew
up in rustic societies in the global South. And I don't mean Australia
or New Zealand :-) or appreciate the realities from those parts of the
planet... FN/Frederick Noronha.

--
FN M: 0091 9822122436 P: +91-832-240-9490 (after 1300IST please)
http://fn.goa-india.org  http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com
Konkani Wikipedia (under incubation) needs your help!
http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/kok

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