[Foundation-l] Re: Outsiders on the Board? (was Re: Poll for Wikistandards)

[Anthony DiPierro]

On 2/2/06, Robert Scott Horning <robert_horning at netzero.net> wrote:
> Delphine Ménard wrote:
> >On 2/2/06, Robert Scott Horning <robert_horning at netzero.net> wrote:
> >>Now this is an interesting situation.  Bureaucrats and admins are asked
> >>to "speak on behalf of the Foundation" in regards to enforcing policies
> >>on each of the seperate projects.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >When? How? Where?
> >
> >Delphine
> >--
> >~notafish
> >
> >
> I just got through dealing with one group, the Hesperian Foundation,
> which was in the process of using Wikibooks to help with the
> collaborative effort of translating an English language medical textbook
> from English to Hatian Creole.  See this page for more details:
>
> http://www.researchonline.net/haiti/nodentist/index.htm
>
> As an administrator at Wikibooks, I informed the project manager, John
> Rigdon, that he should try to do this on Wikisource instead.  As it
> turns out, he is actually going to be creating the Hatian Creole
> language Wikisource project in order to get this translation project
> moving, and there is some additional Creole content that is likly to be
> contributed as well.  As a relative newcomer to Wikimedia projects, he
> is still a little bewildered by all of the politics that are involved
> with all of the sister projects and just wants to have some space to try
> a wiki, and make some meaningful contributions as well.
>
> I'm basically just holding his hand and get him through some of the
> rough spots, while politely informing him of the various project
> policies.  This is a win-win situation for both his group and the
> Wikimedia Foundation, as we now are going to have a significant
> contribution to a language that has not been covered before, and his
> group is going to have a collaborative editing environment that would
> otherwise cost money that his non-profit group could not realistically
> afford for any substantial length of time.
>
It seems to me that this is something anyone could do, admin or not,
and I wouldn't consider it "speaking on behalf of the foundation".

If I explain to someone how the US tax law works and hold their hand
to get them through the rough spots, while politely informing them of
tax laws and precedents, am I speaking on behalf of the United States
Congress?  Of course not.

Of course, the foundation for the most part doesn't even *make*
Wikipedia policy, so this is even more removed from such a situation.

Anthony