Stirling Newberry wrote:
You wonder why people don't trust you, this is why, you are not trustworthy. The question as to whether Catonese is a separaete *written* language is precisely the question that needs to be decided by the community.
I don't think the personal attack was necessary, but nonetheless, I think it is worth noting that using a vote-stacked poll is extremely counter-productive and unpersuasive.
The *real* question here is not about polls or communities. Let's imagine for a moment that somehow the US and UK governments got into a fight, let's imagine even that it's a war. And let's imagine that in the aftermath, there is a huge community vote to split into two English Wikipedias: American English and British English. And let's further imagine that there is a huge majority.
Well, we still wouldn't split the two, because it's still lunacy to split.
Having said that, of course there are borderline cases and complexities.
What I would like to hear is *nothing* about Node's rigged poll, but about some very simple practical questions.
Those in favor of the split claim that the two languages *in written form* (as well as spoken form) are mutually unintelligible. Node has produced some testimony to that effect. I would like to hear more about that, especially from (for example) Andrew Lih.
--Jimbo