[WikiEN-l] Templates for the masses

[Gwern Branwen]

On 2007.10.08 16:06:43 +0100, Zoney <zoney.ie at gmail.com> scribbled 49 lines:
> I do think it'd be nice if the talk link showed up a different colour or
> something for a recent post by an actual real human rather than a bot.
> Actually many talk messages I've left recently haven't gotten responses,
> even semi-controversial subjects on reasonably major topics. I really think
> that back in 2004 they would have.

Perhaps I speak from ignorance but this seems like it could be done easily.

> Perhaps I'm just getting too old and grouchy.

Grouchiness is par for the course. Imagine how grouchy longtime Usenetters got during the worst of the Eternal September.

> Of course, the truth is that talk pages have always been inefficient and
> cumbersome, and really rather pathetic for disputes etc. However, it's not
> like I have a suggestion for an alternative, and I doubt anyone else has! I
> mean, in the wider world people are havign to put up with the social
> difficulties arising from communication by email, SMS text message, etc. All
> in all, a pretty pathetic way to communicate and express ones views and
> emotions.
>
> Zoney

This is actually a good example of my point in the other email, that En is resistant to large-scale technical change even when it improves over the old creaky way we've been using. There have been a number of extensions, proposed and otherwise, like LiquidThreads <http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:LiquidThreads> which would be a considerable improvement over the status quo, and yet they all keep stagnating and dying and never achieving any sort of 'mainstream' success if you follow me.

You can argue that the programmers were incompetent or lacked gumption or were producing a flawed product; but all of them? Seems a little unlikely.

"Once is coincidence, twice is chance - three times is enemy action."

--
gwern
Enforcers RSO ULF GIGN jaws rs9512c SAW Xu package Chicago
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