[Foundation-l] [WikiEN-l] English Wikipedia ethnocentric policy affects other communities

[Andre Engels]

2006/12/21, Neil Harris <usenet at tonal.clara.co.uk>:

> As I understand it, the current en: Latin-script-only policy is a sad
> necessity caused by the need to fight the continual stream of vandalism
> directed at en:, combined with the limitations of most en: editors at
> distinguishing and remembering non-Latin names in general, rather than a
> manifestation of cultural imperialism imposed for social reasons.
>
> This is also a policy that other wikis may be forced to adopt at some
> point in the future, for the same reason, when they get large enough
> that their level of vandal account creation gets sufficiently high (for
> example, can most readers of Arabic read Chinese, or vice versa?)


No, but why would such be a necessity? One can check a person's edits, roll
them back and block the user without once having worried about what the Thai
characters in their name would mean. Blocking bona fide users because you
cannot remember who they are doesn't seem like a help in fighting vandalism
at all.

-- 
Andre Engels, andreengels at gmail.com
ICQ: 6260644  --  Skype: a_engels