2008/9/11 mboverload mboverloadlister@gmail.com:
Am I the only one that has a problem with having 100 Wikipedias? Look at the massive effort it takes to just maintain one decent English Wikipedia article. Then multiply that. I see it as a massive duplication of effort (a phrase I seem to use often around here...). Maybe I'm just a self-centered American with a superiority complex. Someone tell me I'm wrong (I'm serious, if I'm incorrect or being a dick tell me)
You're wrong in that volunteer effort is not fungible the way employee effort is. Volunteers will work 10x as hard as any employee ... but only on what they want to. So there are people who will be highly motivated to write an encyclopedia in their native language that wouldn't be in another language, even if it's that century's international language of choice.
Also, languages don't substitute cleanly for each other in this manner. I believe Arwel Parry explained this here a while ago - pretty much everyone who speaks Welsh also speaks perfect English, but Welsh is his native language so he still thinks (and hence writes) better in it. (Arwel, correct me if I've stated this wrongly!)
It's not a duplication of effort because the effort wouldn't be there if people weren't personally motivated to put it in.
- d.