In response to the burden placed on developers in administering sysop access
on the various wikis, and the dangerous nature of manual SQL queries, a new
feature has been implemented, as proposed by Brion and implemented by E23
(Snok). This feature creates a new level of access called "bureaucrat".
Bureacrats are able to create sysops on any wiki, even if they do not have
an account at the target wiki. Thus, the approximately 150 wikis we now host
can be effectively administered. The word "bureaucrat" was chosen because,
according to Brion, "it sounded unattractive, no one will want to fight over
it."
To attempt to get this feature off the ground, I have created a meta page on
the subject, at:
http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucrat
I have also moved the central location for interwiki requests for adminship
from Brion's todo list to
http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interwiki_requests_for_adminship
-- Tim Starling