On Mon, 22 Feb 2010, Charles Matthews wrote:
You are paraphrasing from [[Wikipedia:Notability]]. However, as is common enough in this (endless, unresolved) discussions, you are not doing so accurately enough. Firstly, [[Wikipedia:Notability]] is only a guideline, not an official policy for anything.
In practice, guidelines end up having the same effect as policies: anyone who can quote them in a dispute that is anywhere near close always wins. Policies don't appreciably differ from guidelines in this respect.
Secondly, you are paraphrasing from the detailed explanation of the first section, but missing the essential (really) point. Which is that "If a topic has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject, it is presumed to satisfy the inclusion criteria for a stand-alone article" is a sufficient condition, not a necessary one.
In the very example I'm bringing up, the notability guidelines *were* interpreted as a necessary condition. Since the article failed to satisfy them, it was deleted for lack of notability.
And I'd wager that notability is pretty much always used this way.