Why is financial gain given such a bad rap compared to
just about any other
type of gain? What about those who exploit Wikipedia for their own
political gain, or heavenly gain, or for some misguided utilitarian gain?
I'd say the bigger threat to Wikipedia is from those who have a goal other
than personal financial gain. Time and time again I see articles ruined not
by corporations trying to sell their goods but by idealogues trying to push
their utilitarian (or religious) theories.
We're fighting those threats on a daily basis, and generally winning
(we win battles, we'll never win the war, it's the price we pay for
allowing anyone to edit). Adverts are a different kind of threat -
they're a threat from the inside. It's much harder to fight internal
battles than external ones. Of course, the people that are actually in
favour of adverts on Wikipedia are in an extremely small minority, so
there isn't really a threat at all, it's all just sensationalism.
I've never understood the strong aversion to money
seemingly held by some
Wikipedians.
Few people are averse to money, it's money at the expense of the
values Wikipedia is built around (freedom of knowledge, for the most
part) that people don't like.