/Raul's categorization of this as a disagreement between a mob and a group of respected editors is wishful thinking. -- SJ
/A lie - I never anything of the sort. Please don't put words in my mouth. In fact, I think Danny nailed it when he said the split in the community is between the people who think the encyclopedia aspect comes first and those who think the social aspect comes first.
/Raul, you should have posted to this list about your decision about the FA tomorrow: that is, to ignore the recent poll... -- SJ / I did one better than that, I posted my reasoning in a clearly marked section RIGHT BELOW THE POLL. *And* my edit summary when I wrote the NES blurb was a link to the explanation. I did everything but set up flashing neon signs pointing to it. But of course, you already knew all that, because you've already responded to my comments there.
As far as ignoring the poll, this is yet another outright lie. I went with the 2nd highest rated poll option (do nothing - e.g., a standard featured article) because, after asking everyone and his mother for input (including the mailing list and Jimbo by name), I decided the first option did not meet the one criteria of being the "daily featured article" - that is, it's not a featured article. And, the article I did pick fulfilled Mav's secondary request that it be "fun". That's quite a lot of attention to be paying to a poll I was ignoring.
Or, to put it another way -- the community was split with about 2/3's in favor of one option and 1/3 vociferously against it. Either way, one group was going to be pissed (at me). Jimbo's comments weren't exactly decisive either, although they did push me in the serious-article direction. Don't you just love no win situations?
/"it reflects the fact that Wikipedia EN is overpopulated by geeky teenagers who probably prefer Red Bull to red wine and Game Boys to sex."/ --Viajero, aka Just Another Dinosaur
Hrmmm, where have I heard this before? Oh yes! This was the same rant that Xed always made (and those of us who actually pay attention to what is happening on wikipedia - admittedly few on this mailing list these days, as SJ's why-did't-you-post-it-here? comment shows - we remember just how wonderful and friendly he was). But all the same, I'll be sure to pass along your holier-than-thou sentiments to all the contributors who you've just insulted. I may not be the "eminent worthiness" you label me as, but I'm sure the people you've stereotyped will appreciate your comments just as much I did.
But on a more general note, this whole experience has left me thoroughly disgusted. The purpose of this was to encourage people to write featured articles on quirky subjects. I said I'd go with what the community decided, provided it met that tremendous, burdensome requirement of being true. Silly me, what the hell was I thinking? An encyclopedia with true facts? Who ever heard of such a thing? Of course, I do wonder - with all the time people have wasted bitching about how terrible the process was, distorting facts and/or lying (SJ), and making personal attacks (Viajero), just how many new featured articles could have been generated?
Just some food for thought... --Mark
Raul, I wasn't trying to be unfriendly in my earlier posts... I was frustrated with the process and the strong anti-populism and calls of "Wikipedia is not a democracy!", which mean one thing when Jimbo says them in the context of trolls and vandals and another when an admin says them in the context of acting unilaterally in community discussions. But I *do* recognize that you were trying very hard to find a good solution to this quandary, and I appreciate that.
Discounting the opinion of the community, and trying to find reasons to ignore it rather than struggling with a compromise or consensus -- this happens all the time on-wiki. It isn't usually a problem; wiki is built to cope with that... except in those corners were one person has set himself up as the local dictator :-) You're a fabulous FAD, but I expect a lot more of you in that role than I do in other contexts; including a willingness to acquiesce to the consensus of others.
On Mar 31, 2005 10:26 PM, Mark Pellegrini mapellegrini@comcast.net wrote:
/Raul's categorization of this as a disagreement between a mob and a group of respected editors is wishful thinking. -- SJ
/A lie - I never anything of the sort. Please don't put words in my mouth.
That's laying it on a bit thick. You're right, you never said /exactly/ that... but you talked about the people in favor of the article as though they didn't care about the quality of the encyclopedia, and as though they weren't respected as editors (when, in fact, most of them *were* respected editors who care about the 'pedia, and I would guess that most of them think this is a fine way to enhance and celebrate its excellence, not merely its "community"). And you talked about "never making the mistake again" of holding a poll to gauge community opinion.
Okay, here's an exact quote: "about a third of people want a regular FA - this third includes most of the 'big time' respected editors. the other two thirds wants a fake article"
The hyphenated clause was wishful thinking.