Thomas Dalton wrote:
So, shall we remove the admin bit from anyone who admits to knowing how to cause such damage? Or shall we immediately take steps to make it so such damage is impossible?
You're misunderstanding the nature of risk. Our aim is not to remove all risk, that's impossible. Our aim is to reduce risk to the minimum possible while stilling being able to make our encyclopaedia as well as possible.
Is that our aim?
Long ago, I used to work for market makers. These days, I do a lot of work for Internet companies. In both lines of work, risk management is essential. In both, the aim is to take as many well-managed, likely-profitable risks as possible. That's how things get better, and that's where a lot of your best information comes from.
The risk management strategy you describe strikes me as a good one for something much more settled, like a water utility.
Do you really think Wikipedia should be that risk-averse? I had thought it a much more dynamic enterprise, at least for the next few decades.
William