On 28/03/07, Chaz B chazbeck.wp@gmail.com wrote:
While it's true that newly registered editors can't edit semi-protected articles, I'm sure that Daniel is aware of this. I agree with him that it's not really violating basic principles by placing reasonable limits on editing .1% of our articles. I also agree that it would make sense to modify the protection defaults so that admins don't inadvertently semi-protect articles longer than intended.
I'd say "anyone can edit" as a base rule is a major part of Wikipedia's success: being as absolutely open as we can stand to be, and possibly a bit more, and cleaning up the rubbish after the fact rather than trying to limit it before the fact. Everything Wikipedia's gotten, it's gotten from being as open as possible. Most of the actual content appears to be written by newbies. Regular wikicrack addicts frequently start as trepidatious anons. As such, keeping pages as unlocked as possible is important to the health of the wiki.
- d.