On 28/03/07, Chaz B <chazbeck.wp(a)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.