Oleg Alexandrov wrote:
I have been a Wikipedian for five years. I am an
administrator, I have
written tens of articles, created hundreds of pictures, and made tens
of thousands of edits. I love Wikipedia and all that it represents.
I find the current "WIKIPEDIA FOREVER" banner to be creepy. I don't
have good words to express it, but it does not feel the right way of
soliciting donations.
I would call upon the Wikipedians responsible for the banner to give
it a deep thought about what message they want to convey to the
millions of visitors to the site. Thank you.
I understand your sentiments
perfectly, I have been at it for nearly
eight years. Those of us who have been doing this a long time are more
committed to the idea than to the organization. It's the difference
between amateur and professional sports. In amateur sports the important
thing is participation and having fun at it without worrying too much
about making mistakes. In professional sports image and conformity
become more important, and the kind of boosterism that you criticize
becomes the norm. When we start to believe that something is "forever"
we lose our ability to renew.
Ec