On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 7:49 PM, Steven Walling steven.walling@gmail.com wrote:
On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 4:23 PM, MZMcBride z@mzmcbride.com wrote:
Steven Walling wrote:
You're leaving out two key facts here:
- The 'VectorBeta' change is to create an _opt-in_ beta for typography
changes, as part of the release of BetaFeatures extension. We'd only be providing something to users who want to try this font stack. It's a choice they get to make, and in that sense I think it's a little wrong for us to dictate anything based solely on ideology.
Why is this a key fact? Will we soon be allowing users to opt in to Facebook "like" buttons, Google Analytics, and "all rights reserved" copyright for their contributions? I don't think making something optional somehow makes it a better idea.
In the case of MediaWiki, by using sans-serif, aren't we specifically not dictating to users what to use? I don't follow your logic here.
Brad's original email failed to point out that the VectorBeta patch isn't a "direction we're going in" for all of Vector or all of MediaWiki. It's an opt-in preference for users on Wikimedia projects, where the BetaFeatures extension is to be deployed. The patch he brought up is essentially no different than a skin like Cologne Blue setting a different font stack, for users who choose it.
Where I come from, "beta" does mean "this is the direction we're intending to go in, subject to testing and feedback before it's made an official release". I'm not aware of anyone who uses a definition of "this is an option, that we're always going to keep as a non-default option".