[Commons-l] Pikiwiki project problems

[Michael Maggs]

Hi Dror

Why not discuss this on wiki?

Michael

Dror Kamir wrote:
> I hear many time that people think this is a great project, but in fact 
> the Commons' administrators were quite hostile towards it from its very 
> beginning. Like in many other issues, most of the complaints were 
> technical, but I cannot believe that technicalities are the problem 
> here. None of the images lack source. The person who contributed the 
> images and relinquished his/her copyrights is always mentioned, but not 
> in the field where the administrators expect it. The fact that the 
> "description" template is produced automatically makes this minor error 
> very easy to ignore or fix. An administrator merely needs to look two 
> lines below, and if it is really disturbing, an automated process can 
> fix the error in the future. Many people upload images manually and the 
> risk of error there is much higher. The fact that these technicalities 
> were enough to block the project (not the bot, but the whole project, as 
> this bot is actually the door between the localized interface and the 
> Commons) makes me wonder whether these technicalities are just an excuse.
>
>
> The Commons, the Wikipedias, the Foundation and the chapters are all 
> part of one structure. The Commons' administrators have more privileges 
> than any other element in this structure. They are entrusted with a huge 
> international project, seen by people from five continents, they are 
> selected for indefinite period of time, and they don't have to reveal 
> their identity. It is also unclear who they are accountable to. These 
> privileges mean that the administrators need to be extremely careful and 
> cooperative. The fact that none of the administrators ever thought of 
> contacting a chapter to consult it about local copyright arrangements or 
> to suggest project related to the Commons is an indication that most 
> administrators are not aware of the structure within which they operate, 
> and don't understand the way Wikimedia works.
>
>
> Being an administrator at the Commons doesn't necessarily mean deleting 
> images whose source is unclear or approving controversial material on 
> the account that it is "educational". Being an administrator also, and 
> most importantly, means knowing the way the Wikimedia movement works, 
> being interested in new projects, offering help, and being fully 
> cooperative with new initiatives. Think about it - had one of the 
> administrators sent a template code to the email of the Pikiwiki 
> project, the whole "source issue" would have been resolved. However, the 
> administrators chose to take a passive approach, complain about the 
> minor error without explaining it properly, and blocking the project 
> eventually. This is not how things should work. The administrators also 
> must remember that the rules are there to serve the community. It is not 
> the community that need to serve the rules. The spirit of the project 
> always comes before the technical rules. If obeying the rules becomes 
> more important than the spirit of the project, then it's a sign that the 
> project is decaying.
>
>
> Dror K
>
>
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