Our exponentially increasing costs (was Re: [Foundation-l] Re: Answers.com and Wikimedia Foundation to Form New Partnership)

[GerardM]

Hoi,
Given that it is only a few wikipedias that can be considered to somehow
cover subjects adequately, the plateau that may arise is still in the
future. To suggest that we have to take the emergence of a pleateau into
consideration, you have to identify why it is likely to arise. Personally I
find it easier to find arguments why we are NOT going to reach this plateau
in the near future..

So the best we can do with your "sound accounting practices" is to have
multiple scenarios available to us. Not because of accounting practices but
because they impact what we do and how we do it. Given however the many
projects that need funding and the wishes we have to have an impact in the
languages where we are still weak, it does not seem reasonable to expect an
end to the growth that we have experienced over our first few years.

Thanks,
GerardM


On 10/25/05, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> wrote:
>
> Daniel Mayer wrote:
>
> >--- Anthony DiPierro <wikilegal at inbox.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>You know, those figures would make a lot more sense if they were done on
> an
> >>accrual basis rather than a cash basis. As is the figures completely
> ignore
> >>the fact that the expected life of the servers is more than a single
> >>quarter.
> >>
> >>
> >The figures I gave assume that all the hardware we have already bought is
> still
> >in operation (which surprisingly is more or less the case).
> >
> >
> >>If you're using those cash-basis figures that's another problem with the
> >>model as well :).
> >>
> >>
> >Yet the model has closely predicted increased costs for the last year
> (yeah, to
> >an extent this is self-fulfilling, but only so much so)...
> >
> >
> Anthony makes a good point. Hardware does break down over time, and has
> to be replaced. Even more likely is that it will become obsolete before
> it breaks down.
>
> The projections of increased costs that you talk about are fine as far
> as they go, but this has all been in a period of rapid growth. Sound
> accounting practice requires that we be prepared for the evebtual plateay.
>
> Ec
>
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