Michael Snow wrote:
Mark Williamson wrote:
Jimmy Wales and the Wikimedia Foundation have many contacts in many countries. I am sure that someone somewhere in their network have a friend of a friend who speaks some of these languages. If not now, I am sure African languages will have them after Wikimania in Alexandria.
If I understand correctly, there are more African languages than there will be people attending Wikimania. Even if everyone who came to Alexandria spoke a different language, the coverage would still be woefully inadequate. (For our next Wikimania, we'll rebuild the Tower of Babel.)
The friend of a friend argument has the productivity of the six degrees of separation argument: not very productive. An argument might run as follows: 1. I have met Florence and she is thus my friend.(first degree of separation) 2. Florence attended the Davos conference, and everyone that she met there is her friend, thus a friend of my friend. (second degree of separation) 3. Those who attended at Davos are friends with everybody that's anybody, who are thus my friends in the third degree of separation.
I don't think this gets us very far. :-)
Ec