--- 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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Stephen Gilbert wrote:
I want it on the record that I am neither a telephone sanitizer nor a hair-dresser. ;-)
;-)
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.
A static portal might not be the final word -- it could be replaced by the unified RC proposal or something else. I'm not arguing for a portal specifically -- * equality of urls * something language-neutral or language-sniffing at www.---
Wikipedia is already damaged by the EL fork. It was a huge blow to the project, and I see it as a loss of credibility. When I visit the fr:pedia I see banter in talk pages along the lines of "policy x is good, that's what the en:pedia adopted" -- "so what? we'll just fork if they don't like it!" It maybe just banter, but it worries me. I would gladly bleed wikipedia now to prevent loss of other limbs.
"Stephen Gilbert" skribis:
Also on the record: I am firmly against a static "portal" page at www.wikipedia.org. I think it's a very bad idea.
[...]
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.
Yes, please repeat your solution. I just looked over all your posts at intlwiki-l (since 17.9.2002 - 34 messages) and didn't find anything on this topic.
In what way is the actual page at http://www.wikipedia.org not a "static page full of links"? (In this case only links into the english wikipedia and to the front pages of the other 'pedias.)
Paul
wikipedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org