Message: 6
Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 12:51:07 +0100
From: "Tony Sidaway" < f.crdfa(a)gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] We need to recognize that advocating is a
basic right
To: "English Wikipedia" < wikien-l(a)wikipedia.org>
Message-ID:
<605709b90605050451u54ffec61i46939c96b8f8a6e1(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 5/4/06, Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)ctelco.net> wrote:
On May 4, 2006, at 10:10 AM, Tony Sidaway wrote:
On 5/4/06, John Tex <
johntexster(a)gmail.com> wrote:
This is "advocacy". Contacting people
to recruit them to support
you or to
act according to beliefs you think they may already have should
rightly be
called "campaigning". This is a Good Thing.
You're on the wrong project, mate.
He's thinking about policy issues and expressing himself in the
proper forum. He's being courteous. He may be wrong, but input on
policy questions is welcome.
All of the above may be true, but he's still on the wrong project.
This is a project for the production of an encyclopedia, not for
political campaigning.
Hi Tony,
I thought it was a bit rude of you to essentially invite me to leave the
project with your "You're on the wrong project, mate." However, since
you're known for your somewhat surly statements and lack of civility, I let
it slide. Now that you've repeated your transgression, however, I feel
compelled to respond.
I'm here to build an encyclopedia. I hope that my contributions log shows
that I have helped to do that. If people disagree, then there are proper
channels to go through if anyone thinks I shouldn't be here. I'd thank you
to use one of them rather than to make your snide, off-wiki comments saying
I'm in the wrong place.
In the meantime, building the encyclopedia requires decisions on policy, as
well as daily decisions about how to apply policy to individual situations.
This requires discussion and sometimes debate. That is inherently a
political process. Person A will inevitably be trying to convince person B
and C that Person A is proposing the correct solution. Sometimes Person A
will be successful in bringing B and C around. Sometimes the opposite will
happen and A will change positions. Sometimes people will agree to
disagree. Etc.
Fortunately, Wikipedia is not ruled by Tony Sidaway, so you don't get to
make all the decisions yourself. As long as multiple people are
contributing to decision-making, politics is a fact-of-life.
I welcome your continued presense on Wikipedia and I thank you for the
myriad contributions you have made to date. I would thank you as well to
extend me the same courtesy, even if you disagree with my position.
Sincerely,
Johntex