Daniel Mayer schrieb:
The others I'm less sure about and would
really like to know what those language communities think.
Aside from what people's feelings are, it is important to collect
empirical data. So far, your claim that Wikipedia will lose contributors
to in-the-news articles because of Wikinews is unproven. It may in fact
be the other way around, given that Wikinews prominently links to as
much Wikipedia material as possible.
My point is that each language community needs to
decide
among themselves if they are ready to start a new Wikimedia project in their
language.
That's a different subject deserving of its own thread. I feel that
whether or not a language community should have the right to decline a
project should depend in large part on what its reasons are to do so. I
am perfectly willing to say that the Chinese community should be allowed
to make that decision, since they will have to pay the consequences if
Wikipedia will be blocked because of Wikinews.
But the arguments that have been brought up against the French Wikinews
are just the same that have been brought up against Wikinews in general:
It could harm our reputation, it could lead to legal problems, etc.
Whether these arguments outweigh the benefits of the project has been
addressed in a global vote. So I don't see a reason why the French
community should be able to deny people the right to work on a French
edition of Wikinews.
Now, your argument is about "readiness". This is an interesting point,
and the question of readiness should perhaps be handled in a different
manner from the question of whether the project should be launched at
all. When I launched the French Wikinews, I did not talk to the
community beforehand and give them time to prepare for the launch. This
may have ruffled a few feathers, and made it look like a decision that
came from outside, rather than a genuine choice of the French Wikinews
participants.
What is a good solution to that problem? Perhaps, as soon as the
required number of contributors is reached, there should be a vote on
when the desired launch date is. "Never" would not be an option in that
vote, but it could have a scope of, say, 4 weeks. This would also be a
test of whether the people who pledged to participate are actually still
around and interested, so the vote could have the same minimum number of
participants.
I am opposed to delaying the creation of Wikinews just because a
Wikipedia in the language in question is still too small. That would
create a hierarchy of projects. When there are participants, the project
should be launched - but the timetable for the launch could be set by
the community.
Regards,
Erik