True, Gerard. I'm pretty sure the encyclopaedia is the only successful
Wikimedia project though, isn't it? I suppose Wikidata will be a success
one day but, for the moment, it's the encyclopaedia that the world loves,
it's the encyclopaedia that raises the income, it's the encyclopaedia that
is spreading the knowledge. On those measures - public awareness and
affection, income-generation, and knowledge-dissemination, all the other
entities are less than a drop in the ocean compared to Wikipedia.
The people in these cottage industries that have grown up around this host
- chapters, WMF, sister-projects - too often lose sight of the fact that
all of them have yet to prove they have had any significant measurable
impact on the distribution of knowledge.
So, forgive me if I sometimes forget to include them in my thinking.
Anthony Cole
On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 1:31 PM, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hoi,
We are not an encyclopaedia. It is only one of our products. It is only one
way whereby we provide content. By insisting on being focused on that part
of what we do, we do an injustice to everything else.
Thanks,
GerardM
On 25 February 2016 at 04:01, Anthony Cole <ahcoleecu(a)gmail.com> wrote:
WMF is a technology company. We are an
encyclopaedia, an educational
institution. We need them like I need a mechanic to keep my car on the
road. That they have control of the encyclopaedia's budget is an
absurdity.
The donors want to donate to (and think they are
donating to) the
builders
of an encyclopaedia, not the tech guy that
maintains our laptops.
Your model - essentially taking over the WMF by turning it into a
membership organisation, and then into something that represents the aims
of encyclopaedia-makers - would have the same result as starting a
membership organisation de novo, except for two things.
1. I really like the idea of outsourcing our tech needs, so we can swap
to
new servers and a new tech team when we get fed
up with the service being
provided by the WMF.
2. Millions of dollars already sitting in the WMF's bank accounts.
Following the model proposed by Denny would leave a fairly ordinary tech
contractor with bulging coffers. It would be nice to be able to take most
of that with us, should we choose to change tech contractors. Hopefully
we
could publicly shame them into handing it over.
George, the WMF, particularly under the Sue/Erik regime - but as best as
I
can tell from its very beginning - has had a
propensity to privilege its
view of what's best over the community's view. Superprotect. Visual
editor.
When the community has pushed back at WMF
behaviour that suits the WMF,
that the WMF thinks helps them in their mission, the WMF has historically
just gone ahead and ignored what the community sees as being in the
encyclopaedia's best interest. This bunch of tech geeks and silicon
valley
entrepreneurs holds the whip hand in this
relationship. It really should
be
the other way round. Denny's model;
Sarah's model. I don't really care.
But
this tail-wagging-dog thing is just not right.
Anthony Cole
On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 10:17 AM, Anthony Cole <ahcoleecu(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Sarah, I'd prefer to see the "keeping
the servers running" role
completely
separate from the community. As an organised
community, if we become
dissatisfied with the service being provided by the WMF, we could just
sack
> them (or not renew their contract) and take on a new infrastructure
> contractor to "keep the servers running." Organised, we - the people
who
actually
created this thing and actively maintain it - could set the
course
for its development.
Anthony Cole
On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 10:09 AM, Anthony Cole <ahcoleecu(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> Sarah, if the volunteer community was organised and had its own,
> functional representative body that had the community's trust and
respect,
>> that would, to some degree, correct the present asymmetry between us
and
> the
WMF.
>
> Our only rights in relation to them are to fork or leave. While we are
> atomised, the latter is our only option. Organised, forking becomes a
> serious possibility. Of course, I hope it never comes to that. But
without
>> that possibility, we are in the position of just having to take
whatever
> from
the WMF - good and bad.
>
> Anthony Cole
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 9:47 AM, SarahSV <sarahsv.wiki(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 6:23 PM, Denny Vrandecic <
>>> dvrandecic(a)wikimedia.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> > To make a few things about the Board of Trustees clear - things
that
>>> will
>>> > be true now matter how much you reorganize it:
>>> >
>>> > - the Board members have duties of care and loyalty to the
Foundation
>> -
not
>> > to the movement.
>> >
>> > Hi Denny,
>>
>> Blue Avocado, the non-profit magazine, offers a somewhat different
view.
>> They have published a board-member
"contract" to give non-profit
>> directors
>> an idea of what's expected of them. It includes:
>>
>>
>>
>> "...
>> I will interpret our constituencies' needs and values to the
>> organization,
>> speak out for their interests, and on their behalf, hold the
organization
>>> accountable.
>>> " [1]
>>>
>>> Sarah
>>>
>>> [1]
http://www.blueavocado.org/content/board-member-contract
>>>
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