joyce wrote:
I had even forgotten I had subscribed. No offense, but what WAS wikipedia-l created to do?
Wikipedia-l was created on January 22, 2001, a week after the creation of the Wikipedia website. Its purpose was to provide a place for Wikipedia-specific discussions, as an alternative to the Nupedia list which was in use for Wikipedia-related discussions before that date.
Here is the archive of the first post: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2001-January/000000.html
Wikipedia-l was initially used for all discussions relating to Wikipedia, including technical and organisational issues. It has now been replaced by wikitech-l, wikien-l and foundation-l. Foundation-l did in fact take a while to catch on, but now that it has, wikipedia-l is left with no role. Even discussions which affect only the Wikipedia editions and not other Wikimedia projects today find their place on other lists.
I hope that Wikipedia-l will not be deleted, as nupedia-l was, so that the archives will remain easily accessible for people who are interested in Wikipedia's history.
-- Tim Starling