I agree with Fae's proposal if we are using
tools that exclude community
members out of safety and privacy concerns then we arent fulfilling the
equity goals. I also recognise that alternatives need to be available but
with no incentive for them to be used then there is no development of such
tools, or improvements to their functionality. Faes proposal is putting the
WMF on notice that there are steps we need to take to ensure equity,
safety, and privacy in participation.
On Mon, 15 Feb 2021 at 09:08, Łukasz Garczewski <
lukasz.garczewski(a)wikimedia.pl> wrote:
With respect, Fae, if you're going to propose
banning an existing
solution, it is on you to propose a suitable alternative or at least a
process to find it before the ban takes effect.
I write this as a signatory of Free Software Foundation Europe's Public
Money? Public Code open letter <https://publiccode.eu/openletter/>. I
am wholeheartedly a proponent of open source software.
At the same time, I am a firm believer in using the best available tool
for the job.
Our mission is too important to hold ourselves back at every step due
to a noble but often unrealistic wish to use open source solutions for
everything we do.
Last year, because of my drive to use proper open source solutions,
WMPL wasted hours and hours of staff time (mostly mine) and a not
insignificant amount of members' time because:
- Zeus, a widely used, cryptographically secure voting system is
impossible to setup and maintain and has very sparse documentation,
- CiviCRM, the premier open source CRM solution for NGOs, refuses
to work correctly after the Wordpress installation is moved to a new URL,
and documentation isn't helpful.
To my knowledge there are no suitable open source options that would be
easy-to-use and robust enough to support our needs in both cases and be
comparable to commercial counterparts.
I have wasted a ton of time (and therefore WMPL money), before I
decided to use state-of-the-art commercial solutions for the needs
described above. Don't be like me. Don't make other people think & act like
I did. Be smarter.
Should we use an *equivalent* open source solution when one is
available? Yes.
Should we have a public list of open source tools needed? Yes.
Should we use programmes such as Google Summer of Code to build those
tools? Yes.
Should we waste time using sub-par solutions or doing work manually?
Hell no.
*So here's a constructive alternative idea:*
- Let's gather the needs and use cases for tools used by WMF and
affiliates,
- Let's build a list of potential open source replacements and map
what features are missing,
- Let's put the word out that we're looking for open source
replacements where there are none available,
- Let's embed Wikimedia liaisons in key open source projects to
ensure our needs and use cases are addressed promptly,
- Let's use initiatives such as Summer of Code to kickstart
building some of these tools.
I acknowledge the above is much harder to do than instituting a ban via
community consensus. It is, however, a much more productive approach and
will get us to your desired state eventually, and without sabotaging the
work that needs to happen in the meantime.
Oh, and in case anybody's wondering why we can't build these tools
in-house:
We could but really, really shouldn't. MediaWiki and the wider
Wikimedia tech infrastructure is still in need of huge improvements. It
would be really unwise to distract WMF's development and product teams from
these goals by requesting they build standard communication or reporting
tools.
On Sat, Feb 13, 2021 at 4:42 PM Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> As a consequence of the promotion of a Google forms based survey this
> week by a WMF representative, a proposal on Wikimedia Commons has been
> started to ban the promotion of surveys which rely on third party
> sites like Google Forms.[1]
>
> Launched today, but already it appears likely that this proposal will
> have a consensus to support. Considering that Commons is one of our
> largest Wikimedia projects, there are potential repercussions of
> banning the on-wiki promotion of surveys which use Google products or
> other closed source third party products like SurveyMonkey.
>
> Feedback is most welcome on the proposal discussion, or on this list
> for handling impact, solutions, recommended alternatives that already
> exist, or the future role of the WMF to support research and surveys
> for the WMF and affiliates by using forking open source software and
> self-hosting and self-managing data "locally".
>
> Links
> 1.
>
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump/Proposals#Use_of_of…
>
> Thanks
> Fae
> --
> faewik(a)gmail.com
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
> #WearAMask
>
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