On Fri, Feb 10, 2017 at 3:48 PM, Michael Everson <everson@evertype.com> wrote:
> On 9 Feb 2017, at 14:30, Milos Rancic <millosh@gmail.com> wrote:
>> * LangCom members should read messages in a timely fashion (at least
>> twice per week), and to contribute on such decisions, where
>> appropriate, within the deadline, or otherwise presumably at least
>> once per month (this could be a simple +1). Lapses in participation
>> would result in a "warning" after three months, and revocation of
>> membership after six. (Note: This is actual proposal for the policy
>> change!)
>
> This is hard to do. There is a lot of discussion on this list and lots of it is not relevant to an actual vote. Subject lines don’t indicate where a vote actually is. Perhaps we could use wiki pages for actual voting? That would also track both voters and non-voters.

I've read Oliver's proposal as "if you don't have something
substantially to add, you could just put +1 while making projects
eligible/approved". Participating in substantial discussions is of
more value than putting just +1, so I don't think anybody would get a
warning with substantial participation and not voting.

But, yes, your proposal to vote on wiki is a good idea. I will add it
into the proposal.

> How many of those have populations large enough to want or need an encyclopaedia? The Tok Pisin Wiki exists and Hiri Motu is in the incubator. Wikipedia says “Papua New Guinea has more languages than any other country, with over 820 indigenous languages, representing 12% of the world's total, but most have fewer than 1,000 speakers”; Enga might be a candidate.

I am sure that at least few dozens of those languages would be able to
create a valid small encyclopedia if they get opportunity.

But, as I've already written, I agree that the languages of New Guinea
should be covered by Oliver's "extended expertise" :)

>> I would also like to see a little bit of ethnnolinguistic diversity
>> inside of the committee. At the moment we are 16/17 native
>> Indo-European speakers and just two members are not of European
>> ancestry. In other words, I think another African member should be
>> welcome, as well.
>
> One problem is that little is known (in the Anglophonie anyway) about many of these languages. Many of the articles on African languages are very short and sketchy.

This was more about the fact that we are dominantly white men in
middle ages and that we are making decisions that affect the whole
world.

> André Müller might be good for (2). I don’t know if he’s a Wikipedian. But areal experts like these may well be hard to find.

Agreed. I've suggested Andre as our new member, if possible.

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