On 10/20/05, Jimmy Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
We have this strange social culture built up around images which I believe is caused mostly by the fact that image deletion is instantly permanent, rather than being something that can be reverted. If we could revert image deletions as easily (or nearly as easily) as we revert deletions of random bits of unacceptable text, we would be much better able to pick and choose images wisely.
I don't think that reasoning is correct. You'll usually get a fight just trying to remove the image from an article, something which is easily reverted. In fact, I've been blocked for removing a non-free image from the main page. The [[Al Gore]] article used to be filled with them. Completely unnecessary, and yet there was significant opposition to their removal. I have no idea if this situation has yet been corrected, well over a year later. It simply hasn't been made clear that reliance on fair use is only permitted in cases where there is no alternative.
--Jimbo
Anthony