On 10/15/10 3:19 PM, Steve Summit wrote:
Please pardon an outside comment which may be misinformed, or too blunt; I haven't been part of this discussion or followed all of it, and I'm not well-informed on the tensions which motivated it. But:
well read this: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikitech-l/2010-October/049877.html
I don't think Roan is saying the community should be the driving force of positivity, but there's a line that gets crossed where a volunteers unprofessional behavior is more of a problem than their contribution is worth.
Volunteers are not really free for the Wikimedia Foundation. We spend a lot of paid employee time on communicating, nurturing and sometimes barely tolerating volunteers. We do this because it's valueable to us, not just for "free" work, but because we only exist to support this community. It's a key part of our mission.
In short - volunteers should not have unlimited rights to abuse staff members just because they have contributed some kind of work without receiving payment, but staff members should never cease to work towards understanding and supporting the volunteers. There's a balance here, and Roan is just trying to remind people of that.
- Trevor
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