[Foundation-l] [WikiEN-l] Wikimedia Board Elections

[Delphine Ménard]

On 9/18/06, Jimmy Wales <jwales at wikia.com> wrote:

> Delphine Ménard wrote:
> > We've seen that the "Foundation" doing anything invariably leads to
> > mild or fierce accusations of "the Foundation" wanting to take over,
> > rule and what not. Well, maybe if *we* the community, proposed the
> > organisation (the Foundation) with a comprehensive way to go about
> > this, showing that *we* the community, have understood what's at stake
> > on an organisational level, things could change for the better.
>
> One of the most worrying trends I have seen is a tendency for people to
> think of "the Foundation" as being completely apart from "the
> Community".  That way lies madness, I think.

The funny thing is that I am one of those people who think that the
Foundation *is* apart from the community.

I am, however, a strong advocate of both "The Foundation"
(organisation with roots in the very real world) trying to understand
"the community" and "the community" (a large body of volunteers who
work towards a same goal of free knowledge for all in somewhat virtual
environment) trying to understand "The Foundation", in order to work
together efficiently. Trying is actually not the right word, we need
to succeed, or we'll stall.

Acknowledging differences is the best way of using them to build
synergy. Ignoring them builds gaps and traps rather than bridges.


Delphine
PS. We might phrase it a tad differently, but I have a tendancy to
believe that we agree, here, though.
-- 
~notafish