On 10/10/02 2:15 PM, "Jimmy Wales" <jwales(a)bomis.com> wrote:
The Cunctator wrote:
I object strenuously. This is not a slam-dunk
good idea at all. Please hold
off at least a good while before doing this.
O.k., let's wait.
What are the objections?
The primary objection is that this hasn't really been discussed. That said:
1) There isn't a clear picture of what overall policy this fits in with;
2) Whether whatever that overall policy is well-thought out and correct;
3) What the consequences of the change from a usability perspective have not
been delineated;
4) "A new intro page can later be set up at convenience" is probably not how
we want to do this;
5) There are real, concrete benefits to having a default and preferred
interface/language;
In other words, the pros and cons of such an act should be explicitly and
clearly listed. There are many reasons that
www.google.com,
www.dmoz.org,
etc. (which all have multilanguage settings) have English as the default,
and it's not just that the servers are US-based).
Once that's done, we can weigh priorities.
I personally think a better focus right now for the developers is to work on
maximum integration of the different language wikis. If the backend is
better integrated, frontend issues become easier to deal with.
A big question that we are in the process of resolving now is whether we
want to think of Wikipedia as a single project that has multiple
translations, or as a bunch of largely independent projects specific to
particular nations and language sets. I think the first conception is
healthier and more productive over the long term. We really should think
about this issue before we take broad actions that touch upon it.