On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 10:19 AM, Craig Franklin cfranklin@halonetwork.net wrote:
I'll be writing a longer post on the Meta RFC later, but can you confirm whether the idea is to "superprotect" key interface pages like [[Mediawiki:common.js]] on a permanent basis, or will this feature only be used to lock pages temporarily in the case of wheel warring or other circumstances like what happened on de.wp?
Dear Craig,
Thank you for the question. Definitely the latter. In general, as I mentioned in my original note, we intend to bring on-wiki functionality that directly relates to the UI and code (i.e. chiefly the MediaWiki: namespace, which is a highly unusual software feature to begin with) in closer alignment with off-wiki software development, review and deployment practices, including permission levels (e.g. actually make it easier for anyone to submit changes, but gate changes that impact all users).
Lila and I will post more thoughts on the larger issues within the coming days. We deeply regret the disruptive impact this discussion is having on Wikimedia's mission and our work together. At the same time, working through these questions has long been overdue, and my hope is that we can come out of this with greater clarity regarding how we partner on issues that are often likely to be contentious, which includes user experience changes.
Sincerely,
Erik