Is it possible to run multiple instances of Mediawiki all talking to the same database (table sets, etc), assuming that the db formats haven't changed between the Mediawiki versions used in those instances?
What I'm thinking is that a beta.en.wikipedia.org instance wouldn't be so bad, if it had the same data on the back end.
I really like that idea. I would use such a beta instance and report problems as I find them (which is the purpose of a beta-test). I would certainly /not/ use a separate "beta-test" wiki if it isn't Wikipedia, because that's extra work and it's boring compared to Wikipedia. I'm sure at least 90% of the users feel that way.
Timwi