[Wikipedia-l] possible explanation for Spanish 'pedia fork; plus some thoughts...

[Lars Aronsson]

On Tue, 9 Jul 2002, Daniel Mayer wrote:
> We should consider doing some strategizing to make
> sure another fork doesn't happen (I hear members of
> the French wikipedia threatened a fork in the past).

There are two ways:
1) Be the better alternative (like former West Germany), or
2) Build a Berlin Wall and shoot any defectors (like former GDR).

The French Wikipedia runs the old software.  The "Home Page" and "Recent
Changes" links are not translated into French.  ISBN numbers to French
titles (such as on http://fr.wikipedia.com/wiki.cgi?Langage_C) lead to
U.S. online bookstores that don't sell French titles.  Page titles have
Every Word In Caps, which is against French language use.  I don't speak
French, but these deficiencies are just so obvious, so showstopping.

I cannot understand how the French Wikipedia in its current state can
succeed in attracting any new contributors.

If I were an active contributor to the French Wikipedia, I would fork now
before the wall goes up, since there is nothing that indicates that Bomis
has alternative (1) as their strategy for fr.wikipedia.com.

Here is a nice looking French Wiki with 600 pages and a weird kind of
humor that I could show to my French-speaking friends, if I wanted to
explain the Wiki concept to them, http://www.weaki.org/


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  tel +46-70-7891609
  http://aronsson.se/  http://elektrosmog.nu/  http://susning.nu/