[Foundation-l] New project proposal - Wikibuilder

[Christiaan Briggs]

On 23 Jan 2005, at 12:19 am, Daniel Mayer wrote:

> [[Proposals for new projects]] and [[New project policy]] ... is also 
> the place to prove that the proposed project is not something that 
> could be done within an existing project.

The problem is anything _could_ be done on Wikicities, Wikibooks, or as 
a separate project, therefore there's nothing to prove and no project 
need ever see the light of day on Wikimedia. This line of thinking just 
doesn't correlate with that on [[Proposals for new projects]] and [[New 
project policy]], nor with how new projects have so far emerged.

That something _could_ be done somewhere else doesn't mean it _should_.

>> Wikibuilder clearly fits the ideals of Wikimedia.
>
> How so? The proposal and how it would 'clearly fit' are not at all 
> clear to me.

Wikibuilder's goal is to spread and promote all knowledge of the built 
environment within the terms of the Wikimedia Foundation. It really 
doesn't get any clearer.

>> At the risk of sounding patronising--I really don't intend this to 
>> be--my guess is that you, along with many others involved, have a 
>> natural inclination to reject Wikibuilder as not fitting in because 
>> it's a not a conventional project along the lines of science or 
>> media, hence your comments that Wikicities is the correct venue, in 
>> seeming contradiction to [[Proposals for new projects]].
>
> As the person leading this idea the onus is on you to convince others 
> that this is a good idea.

My point was that your argument doesn't seem to correlate with much of 
what has already taken place in regard to new projects, and the reason 
you're opposed to Wikibuilder being developed under the umbrella of the 
Wikimedia Foundation is primarily because it doesn't fit your 
preconception of what a Wikimedia project should be, and that the 
reasons you've presented are secondary to this. My reason for pointing 
this out is to suggest that people need to have an open mind about the 
possibilities for Wikimedia and not be so quick to dismiss.

>> And I certainly don't think Wikibuilder needs to be up and running 
>> _anywhere_ before a decision can be made with regards to Wikimedia's 
>> mandate. A comprehensive proposal is enough to make this decision.
>
> Then get busy writing and winning hearts and minds. :)

Absolutely, but there's no rush. I'd like to see this proposal develop 
organically with lots of input from others; there're many things to 
consider and technological considerations may well delay any decision.

Christiaan