Ryan Kaldari wrote:
On 11/13/10 12:25 PM, Robert S. Horning wrote:
Much of what I was trying to get started was covered on this very mailing list. If you go into the archives and look up Wikijunior to see some of the efforts that were made, including some initial publications that were made through Lulu (that were also removed from Lulu at the request of the WMF). The organizing efforts were being done on Wikibooks as much as could be done, and that was pretty much where it ended too. The problem was that PediaPress offered money, which we didn't.
So you're saying that the Foundation should have partnered with a completely proprietary service (Lulu), that wasn't interested in donating any software or income back to the Foundation? That doesn't sound like a very appealing partnership, nor can I imagine the community supporting such a decision (especially considering how skeptical they've been of the PediaPress partnership).
At the core of this thread are two questions, in my view:
1. What are the requirements for a partnership with Wikimedia? You've mentioned a few possible criteria (giving a percentage to Wikimedia, using open source software, etc.). Is there an actual guideline about this kind of thing? If not, should there be?
2. Who decides on partnerships? The Executive Director? The Board? The Head of Business Development? Again, this might be covered by some sort of guide. For all I know, there's already something on wikimediafoundation.org about this. I'm just asking questions. :-)
MZMcBride