On Wednesday 12 January 2005 08:22, Matt Brown wrote:
In this case, it looks like your link is on topic and relevant. Whether it is needed is another matter, but one that can be resolved in a more peaceable manner. I don't agree with removing it and citing as the sole reason that it's a site you put up.
Thank you very much for your valuable and insightful input.
I would like to add that it would be beneficial for Wikipedia to have a formal policy on external links, and that all admins should agree on what is and what isn't spam.
I personally would never post a link to my site (or to anybody's site) if it was not relevant to the subject and if I hadn't the belief that it is beneficial to the reader.
I also would like to point out that on our JnanaBase wiki it is allowed for people to post links to their sites. A person has already did that and wrote a nice informative article, he/she even included a link to us on his/her forum saying we have a great site. But also, many times other people are posting links that I recognise as spam. How I define spam? Well, spam is any link or reference inserted for advertising purposes that hinders the quality of our site and is not beneficial to the reader.
I have also linked to Wikipedia numerous times. Even the article in question includes a direct link to Wikipedia.
By including that link in Wikipedia I wanted to offer something beneficial to its readers. My intention was *not* to have free advertising. Actually, I have paid money to Google (AdWords) and www.LinuxISO.org for displaying my textad and banner, and I am just an unemployed Computer Science student.
Thank you very much for reading my message.