Hoi, I alone have contributed millions of edits thanks to Magnus's tools. The whole GLAM phenomenon relies on our volunteers and on the GLAM-wiki toolset. When you consider their proven importance it is difficult, if not impossible, to understand why all such tools have been given the Cinderella treatment.
When I consider the way the WMF treats prerequisites like Labs, I find it is given the same treatment. We know that there is not sufficient staffing and hardware and the priorities of the big sister projects takes staffing easily away. When you consider down time of Labs and Labs applications things have been getting worse.
I do not blame, Magnus, the Labs team nor the Wikidata team I blame the WMF that could so easily be mistaken for the en,WPF. This is systemic just consider the recent report of 2014 where the "other" Cinderella projects like Wikisource, Wikidata, Wikibooks were not mentioned at all.
When you think this is not true, please let us know what plans there are to support the Cinderella projects. How much funding, human resources are available for them. How do you think I, as a long time Wikimedian, became this harsh in my opinion? I ask for plans because what else is there ?
I find that the WMF is self absorbed and while it considers itself clear in its objectives what options are there so that the Cinderella's can go to the ball as well in the off chance of glass slippers and a prince. Thanks,
On 22 February 2015 at 02:39, Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org wrote:
On Sat, Feb 21, 2015 at 4:19 PM, MZMcBride z@mzmcbride.com wrote:
Erik seems to be pushing toward a model that favors using OAuth and the MediaWiki API over "deep integration" that comes with a MediaWiki extension. He recently mentioned this here:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/glamtools/2015-February/000343.html
He may be right that development for deployment to the Wikimedia Foundation cluster may not be the best approach for every project, but I think this view overlooks all the very real benefits that extension deployment includes.
I don't think one size fits all -- every case needs to be judged on its merits, though in the case of GLAMWikiToolset I am definitely arguing for considering separation from the MediaWiki codebase because it is so highly specialized. I also think we sometimes still have a tendency to underestimate the value of non-MediaWiki tools and apps, even though they've contributed millions of edits to Wikimedia wikis already (though to be fair, without Magnus Manske the tally would not be nearly as awesome).
Regarding the criteria for grantmaking, I think this initial blanket prohibition against all MediaWiki extension development is indeed something we ought to revisit. These grants can cover tens of thousands of dollars of paid work, so we shouldn't treat the review and integration burden lightly, and avoiding stalled projects that are going nowhere was a reason I advocated for this restriction to begin with. But as long as there is a good plan in place -- either not significantly dependent on WMF or with clear commitments negotiated upfront -- I do agree that the risks can be significantly mitigated.
Damon, Luis and members of their teams will need to weigh in on this, and will want to think through the implications for their respective areas, but it's a good conversation to have -- keeping in mind that Luis is just starting in his new role, so please give him at least a few days to get up to speed. ;-)
Erik
Erik Möller VP of Product & Strategy, Wikimedia Foundation
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