[Wikipedia-l] Mutualistic symbiosis vs simple symbiosis (Nupedia/Wikipedia relationship)

[Daniel Mayer]

On Monday 02 September 2002 07:30 am, Magnus wrote:
> 5. As a result, these articles (or parts of them) can be integrated into
> the "free encyclopedia sources" from #1

How would this integration occur? Would it be automatic and thus overwrite 
any modifications made the the Wikipedia version that have occurred since the 
text was copied to start the Nupedia one? Or would this have to be done 
manually for each article? I don't like either scenario. Under the first 
scenario potentially valid edits to the Wikipedia version are lost and under 
the second scenario somebody has to perform version control (I HATE version 
control). 

Who really would want to continue editing Wikipedia articles if their 
perfectly valid edits are overwritten by a computer without notice or if they 
have to perform version control after each release of Nupedia? 

> What I'm trying to say is Wikipedia and Nupedia won't be a fork, because...

If version control isn't done by those taking the material to begin with 
there is little chance this reintegration work will be done for most 
articles Nupedia uses. Thus we have a fork -- pure and simple. The Nupedia 
experts will work on their version and Wikipedia editors will work on their 
own version (I do hate duplication of effort). 

> they're not really competition; they could both benefit from a symbiosis.
>
> Magnus

But it is also true that the roundworm Trichuris trichiura is not in 
competition with its human host -- it is in symbiosis (albeit a special case 
of symbiosis called parasitism). So through an initial case of parasitism by 
Nupedia the two projects would be competition in cases where reintegration 
doesn't occur (for whatever reasons) and two different article versions are 
being worked on at the same.  

What I would like to see is some mutualistic symbiosis whereby edits to the 
Wikipedia article are in effect suspended by placing a simple note at the top 
of the article saying something to the effect that "This article is being 
checked and possibly expanded for inclusion in the next version of Nupedia. 
When that process is complete that version will replace this one. To see the 
current progress of this process please visit {URL of where the Nupedia 
version under development is}." 

And at that location there would be some type of explanation on how the 
Nupedia process works (probably by proposing suggestions to the expert 
validation editor). 

When Nupedia has done its thing with the article then that version would 
replace the Wikipedia one by someone/computer from Nupedia (the entire 
process should be short though -- no more than a week or so for any 
particular article).

This is already being done to a large extent with the /Temp fad I helped 
start (whereby an article that is being completely redone is copied to a 
/Temp page title and worked on there). Although the /Temp page is being 
replaced here by a Nupedia page where a different development methodology 
prevails.

In this way Nupedia benefits from getting raw material and Wikipedia benefits 
from periodically getting many of its articles reviewed, edited and expanded 
by experts. I say that is a win-win scenario. 

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)