On 3/15/07, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_is_a_work_in_progress
Great essay by User:Qxz. "So, if you rely on Wikipedia in its current state, that's your problem. We're not done with it, and we never said it would be any good – we only said it would be free. If you aren't satisfied with it now, help improve it, or come back in another six years and take a look then. It'll be better. We promise."
I agree, great essay. Wikipedia is not in itself primarily a project to put an encyclopedia up on the web - it's a project to CREATE one. Lots of things are imperfect.
Only thing is, one of the best ways to get contributors is to attract readers. If we get readers, we do have to be a little careful about a few things - libellous howlers in biographies of living people, for instance - but not overall paranoia about hiding the mess under the bed.
-Matt