[Foundation-l] Incubator Wiki for New Wikimedia Projects (was Vote to create Wikiversity Vote)

[Ray Saintonge]

Anthony DiPierro wrote:

>The process to create a new project is far too difficult.  An
>incubator wiki would facilitate that process.  The fact that
>Wikicities is already doing something which you feel has overlap (but
>then later say wouldn't have any overlap), is really irrelevant.
>
The process should be that difficult.  The impetus for new projects 
seems to be more often a reflection of people's inability or 
unwillingness to look for compromise solutions;  it has very little to 
do with an objective need for another project. 

One starts from Wikipedia with its set of fundamental principles.  A new 
project should first of all have a motivation based on a variance of one 
of those fundamental principles.  The first spin-off was Meta which when 
I first joined was promoted as a place where one could engage in POV 
rants that could not be allowed on Wikipedia.  Wiktionary was a response 
to "Wikipedia is not a dictionary".  Wikibooks was intended for books 
(not necessarily strictly *text*books) which required that a subject be 
treated with more depth than would be possible in an encyclopedia; I've 
always believed that the "No original research" could be a little more 
relaxed in a Wikibooks context.

The answer to deletionist controversies should not always be to 
establish a new project; it should lie in an attempt to find common 
ground.  That's something which a certain cadre of people on Wikipedia 
refuses to seriously consider.  I don't know what rules the Wikijunior 
people have been violating in Wikibooks, but that is an omnous claim.  
It seems to reflect the usual dynamic conflict between those who want 
clarity and certainty, and those who treasure innovation as a primary 
value.  A project has a serious problem when either of those two gains 
dominance.

Once established I believe in the autonomy of the separate projects, but 
they still need to have an understanding of where they come from.  
Autonomy should not be an excuse for excluding what might otherwise be 
allowed, but this is an extremely difficult problem which can only be 
addressed with a lot of goowill.

Ec