On Tue, 2002-10-01 at 15:35, Ray Saintonge wrote:
Poor, Edmund W wrote:
Can a few hundred Wikipedians make a world-class
encyclopedia? Will all of human knowledge fit on Jimbo's server farm? Is there a way
to keep such a massive collection free of vandalism yet freely changeable?
Much as I admire the spirit of pure voluntarism, I must say that Larry is right about the
need for paid staff. We already have a sponsor for the server and bandwidth, and although
the physical expenses might be dropping I haven't heard anyone volunteering to take
that burden off of Jimbo's shoulders.
What do we need paid staff to do? Primarily, reach out to the academic and professional
community and seek their help. With a modest budget for travel to conferences, or for
payments to copyright holders, such a leader could bring in some very high quality
material.
The presence of paid staff can profoundly affect the nature of a
volunteer organization. A tendency develops to depend on them for all
sorts of things that people should be doing for themselves. I've seen
several edit wars where someone has lamented that Larry was no longer
around to settle the argument. A part of growing up is being able to
find your own way to settle arguments without waiting for a thunderbolt
from Zeus.
Indeed. Just about the only thing a volunteer-centered non-profit should
need paid staff for is fundraising. And that is not a pressing need
right now.
There are certainly mechanisms for reaching out to the academic and
professional community that don't require paid staff. Most _do_ require
a more formal incorporation of some kind, sticking people on a board,
etc.