[Wikipedia-l] Inquiry

[Angela]

I agree with the points Fred, Mathias, and Neil already made. 

In addition:

     "Not only that but Wikipedia is setting a blistering pace with a
thousand new articles being added each day."

It's 3758 new per day over all (although it is 1048 per day for the
English version) as of the end of April.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wikistats/EN/TablesWikipediaZZ.htm>

     "He added a few canny rules-of-order: Whenever someone edits an
article, a new version of the article is created and saved."

Revision histories are fairly standard in wiki software, so I wouldn't
say Jimmy added that. It was present, in a less useful form, in the
UseMod software which predates Wikipedia.

     "Despite meteoric growth, Wikipedia has remained an all-volunteer
outfit, financed by donations."

This isn't strictly true anymore. We do have two paid staff now -
Brion Vibber on development and server work, and Chad Perrin on
hardware work in the Florida colocation facility. Part of the funding
comes from grants, sponsorship, and paid-for services such as an OAI
feed. The majority of financing is still from donations though.

Angela.

--
Angela Beesley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Angela