[Foundation-l] Re: Wikiversity/Wikisophia conclusion (was: Re: Wikiversity)

[Erik Moeller]

Ray Saintonge:

> Yes of course.  But in your original post on the matter you said, "I'd 
> like to announce my intention to move the relevant pages on Meta and 
> edit the summary to reflect the name change."

Yes, I was blinded by the quick agreement among the people I talked to 
(Angela, who had the idea, Jimbo, and Mav). Nevertheless, I posted here 
to give people the opportunity to object to the name change, which 
several people did: no harm done.

Contrary to my prior announcement, I will not open a vote immediately.

First of all, we don't have the domain name Wikisophia.org yet. We'll 
have to see how the negotiations with Peter go before it makes sense to 
decide formally to use it. If it had been an informal decision as I 
intended, that wouldn't have been so bad, but if it's now formally 
decided, that will influence the negotiations with Peter in undesirable 
ways. As Lee pointed out, the integrity of technical decisions should 
never be compromised. Out of enthusiasm, I did not completely see the 
risks of committing to the name too early.

Secondly, several new naming suggestions have been made. These should be 
included in the final naming vote.

Thirdly, a vote should not take place until all arguments for and 
against each name have been heard.

Finally, I agree that we need a clearer definition of the project. I'm 
not sure such a definition will arise out of discussions, and for the 
moment, this list is the wrong place for them. My experience is that it 
often makes sense for a single person to sit down and formulate their 
perspective, and to then refine this perspective based on the reactions 
from the community. Whether this person will be Ambi, me, or someone 
else is not relevant. But that person can then also guide the process of 
choosing the final name.

Again, I have no intention of pushing the process of launching the 
project, though I do intend to seek funding for it and to pursue the 
technical needs evaluation.

So, as I said in my original post, there's no reason to panic. I will 
however, refrain from using the name "Wikiversity" to describe the 
project I'm talking about, as I really do not see the creation of a 
"wiki university" as my goal. This may culminate in separate proposals, 
if it turns out that the disagreement is less than superficial.

I regret that my suggestion caused so much commotion, though perhaps it 
is good that we now have a better idea where this project stands, and 
the beginnings of a consensus on how to proceed.

Erik