[Foundation-l] English Wikipedia

[Mark Williamson]

I do not want to turn this into another war, and I am not going to go
into detail about my personal issues with you because I know that if I
do you will open up another round of attacks on *my* character, but I
do have several things to say here.

I personally would not be in favor of you being allowed to edit on the
English Wikipedia. Having said that, I do believe there is a lot of
valuable information that you could contribute. However, when you see
errors or omissions, you are also free to point them out to concerned
editors. For example, if you feel that, say, [[Cherokee language]] has
a glaring mistake or omission, you could always tell someone like me
and I would be glad to fix it (despite our past differences, I have
nothing against you as a person).

The reason I would not be in favor of your return is that my
experiences with you in the past have not been pleasant, and despite
the current poor condition of articles on the previously mentioned
topics at the English Wikipedia, I do not think the benefits outweigh
the costs. The English Wikipedia already has problems with people
attacking and harassing each other and it is not what I would call a
healthy social environment. I can honestly say (without going into a
lot of detail) that I do not think adding you back into the equation
would exactly help make things more peaceful.

This is of course just my opinion, and others may certainly disagree.
I do hope that if you aren't allowed back, that won't discourage you
from contributing anyways by giving suggested improvements to other
editors because you are very right that the articles on these topics
are in an abysmal condition and I think you have a lot to offer.

And finally, I think that this is currently not a foundation-level
issue, though I may be wrong, and if it's not one now, it could become
one later.

Mark

On 01/05/07, Jeff V. Merkey <jmerkey at wolfmountaingroup.com> wrote:
>
> I  would like to start editing on the English Wikipedia to correct a lot
> of bogus Native American content which is getting into the dumps.   I
> have been painfully watching a large number of Native articles getting
> vandalized and garbage being inserted, and with few folks competent in
> Native
> Culture to fix a lot of it.  I also have stayed off the site for almost
> two years and this is more than long enough.    Had I robbed a 7-11, and
> and entered a plea in abeyance, I would be eligible for expungement at
> this point in the real world.
>
> I am posting to this list since it may be a foundation issue.   If there
> are no objections, there are a large number of articles needing
> updating, and I
> plan to be bold.
>
> Anyone with objections can air them in the open, in this forum, so they
> can be dealt with.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>


-- 
Refije dirije lanmè yo paske nou posede pwòp bato.