--- tarquin tarquin@planetunreal.com wrote:
Whenever non-english 'pedias have asked "how come we're still on UseMod and you guys are on phase III" we reply "because we tried cloning Brion and it failed". Then they ask "so in the meantime, how about at least having equal URLs, as a sign of goodwill", and we say "sorry, the mailing list is populated by Golgafrinchams who are still discussing what colour the wheel should be."
Note that word: goodwill.
I want it on the record that I am neither a telephone sanitizer nor a hair-dresser. ;-)
Also on the record: I am firmly against a static "portal" page at www.wikipedia.org. I think it's a very bad idea.
That does not mean:
a) I'm advocating English as the most important Wikipedia language. b) I'm trying to insult people who think it is a good idea. c) I'm trying to stall progress on interlanguage issues. d) I don't care about the other languages. e) I don't care about goodwill. f) I'm secretly in love with the Cunctator.
It simply means I'm against the static front page idea. I don't think it solves any fundamental problems, but that's not the point; even if it was *only* a symbolic gesture of goodwill I would support it. However, I believe it would be harmful to the project as a whole, not just the English language part of the project.
I, along with others, have stated my reasons, and I'll state them again if requested. I (again, with others) have proposed an alternate solution that I believe would extend the same goodwill, be more functional, and avoid the pitfalls of a static front page of links. I will state this again too upon request.
In summary, I couldn't care less what colour the wheel is. I just don't want it to be square.
Stephen G.
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