[Wikipedia-l] What Larry (and everybody else) said

[Brion VIBBER]

Julie Hofmann Kemp wrote:
> 1) Why Nupedia isn't as "successful" as Wikipedia:
> 
> I can only tell you what I think (since I'm in arrears on a Nupedia 
> article).  First, I think Nupedia is in some ways the ideal -- partially 
> because my understanding is that expertise can be demonstrated in ways 
> other than credentials.

Nupedia may well be wonderful, but I have zero interest in it. I first 
heard of it a few months before I got involved in Wikipedia; I went to 
the site, browsed through the FAQs, and got the distinct impression that 
I wasn't welcome unless I had a PhD.

Perhaps that's an exagerration; after all, this excerpt explains 
carefully that you don't _need_ a PhD:

   If a man who had received a Master's degree in French
   literature focusing exclusively on Victor Hugo had written five
   peer-reviewed articles about Hugo, the fact that he lacks a Ph.D.
   should not stop us from assigning him topics related directly to Hugo.

;)

-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)