On 6 January 2016 at 02:09, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I've always believed that Wikimedia is an
education charity that happens to
exist exists in a technology field. I often note in presentations that I
give that the Wikimedia vision statement does NOT use the words, Internet,
or Wiki, or Encyclopedia. But these appointments indicate the Board and WMF
Executive believe Wikimedia is a technology charity that happens to exists
in the education field.
These appointments will make a crucial difference to how the new WMF
strategic direction will go - and clearly the leadership is wanting to make
us act more like a Californian dot-com and less like a global education
charity. Less "community consensus building" and more "move fast and
break
things" - is the message I am reading here.
I would like to very much second Liam's concerns here. This feels like
we're drifting further into the bubble of SF technology companies, and
frankly the world needs less of that not more. I think it's valuable
that we have some board members with experience from outside the
Wikimedia bubble - but also very important that we try to avoid too
large a proportion of the board coming from within the SF technology
bubble. This feels like a step sideways in that regard, and it's
unsettling.
(I also agree with his concerns about diversity, but we're not always
great at solving that through the elected seats either, to be fair...)
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk