Hi,
Summary: this proposal is serious and it is being done within the Wikimedia Foundation goals. If you want to start a MediaWiki Group you can help getting the proposals for groups and reps approved and you could be the first one in the row, perhaps in no more than a couple of weeks. :)
On 11/29/2012 10:55 PM, Gerard Meijssen wrote:
Hoi,
How did this come a about? Are there things that are moving in this way or is this an idea that you are floating ?
I also find it to be a good idea :) but it's not mine. Having user groups is a goal of the Engineering team at the Wikimedia Foundation. Being the Technical Contributor Coordinator this falls completely in my plate - and I'm happy for that!
Actually 3 real user groups are expected to be created before then end of the year (that is, in the following 4 weeks!):
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Engineering/2012-13_Goals#Milestone...
Q2 (October-December) Goals for subcommunities: (...) 3 user groups
Q4 (April-June) Goals for subcommunities: (...) 5 user groups
I expect these groups to become a main delegation/empowerment tool to organize more, more distributed and more diverse technical activities. It fits perfectly in the Wikimedia Foundation strategy and the way the Wikimedia movement grows.
As soon as I figure out how budget is requested at the Engineering team ;) I will ask for some in order to help bootstrapping the first groups and related activities. I also want to discuss with the people close to Wikimedia chapters and the new Funds Dissemination Committee how can we help MediaWiki groups to fund their activities through their processes.
PS It is not a bad idea. It is just that much easier to do something like this when it supports things on the ground.
Absolutely. I didn't want to blow whistles too loud after a first draft that not even myself had re-read yesterday. :) Today I will forward the proposal to the WMF communications / community / legal teams to make sure that whatever we do fits well in the overall picture. Once we have something we broadly agree upon here, I will forward the proposal to wikimedia-l for wider awareness and polishing.
Thanks, Gerard
On 30 November 2012 01:50, Quim Gil qgil@wikimedia.org wrote:
Hi, here you have a first draft about MediaWiki Groups, and implicitly MediaWiki reps:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/**User:Qgil/MediaWiki_groupshttp://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil/MediaWiki_groups
MediaWiki groups organize open source community activities within the scope of specific topics and geographical areas. They extend the capacity of the Wikimedia Foundation in events, training, promotion and other technical activities benefiting Wikipedia, the Wikimedia movement and the MediaWiki software.
Imagine MediaWiki Germany Group, MediaWiki Lua Group...
These groups may become a significant source of growth and wider diversity of our community.
Please bring your ideas to the discussion page - or here. Thank you!