On 6/5/06, Guy Chapman aka JzG guy.chapman@spamcop.net wrote:
On Sun, 4 Jun 2006 16:12:18 -0700, you wrote:
My objection in short: "Fuck process" is, here and now, more of a problem for Wikipedia than any of the individual wrongs Tony has righted using that justification, of late. Playing well with others is more important now.
Up to a point, I'd say. As far as I can tell Tony's beef with "process wonks" is that the slavish following of rules has come to replace building a great encyclopaedia as the primary goal.
No. So far as I'm aware most of the actual decision-making is made in a manner that would drive a serious process enthusiast to distraction if he was aware of it. This is not a bad thing. I see little or no evidence to support the claim that Wikipedia is yet anything resembling a process-bound institution. Process-building is of course necessary so those who work on that aspect of the encyclopedia are doing as much to build the encyclopedia as those who, through normal everyday good decision-making, smash unnecessary and onerous process. We have an equilibrium and a fairly healthy one, and this is how it should be.