[Foundation-l] Contents of foundation l-digest, Vol 57, Issue 65 ----- 'help' ----- 1

Wed Dec 17 07:49:40 UTC 2008

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Subject: foundation-l Digest, Vol 57, Issue 65

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Today's Topics:

   1. Neeru Khosla to Become Wikipedia Advisor (Jay Walsh)
   2. Re: Report to the Board of Trustees: October 2008 (Erik Moeller)
   3. Re: Report to the Board of Trustees: October 2008
      (effe iets anders)
   4. Re: and what if... (Delirium)
   5. Re: Report to the Board of Trustees: October 2008
      (Gerard Meijssen)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:24:06 -0800
From: Jay Walsh <jwalsh at wikimedia.org>
Subject: [Foundation-l] Neeru Khosla to Become Wikipedia Advisor
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
    <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID: <DE2C0F68-BB6D-432F-AD61-81607AD384D3 at wikimedia.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Hi all - passing this on.  We sent out this press release earlier today.

Thanks!

Jay, Communications

>
> ''Neeru Khosla to Become Wikipedia Advisor''
>
> Philanthropist and education pioneer joins non-profit's Advisory Board
>
> San Francisco CA December 15, 2008 -- The Wikimedia Foundation, the  
> non-profit organization behind the web encyclopedia Wikipedia, today  
> announced the appointment of Neeru Khosla to its Advisory Board.  
> Khosla is co-founder and chair of CK-12, a non-profit based in Palo  
> Alto, California which is pioneering the concept of "open source  
> textbooks." In September, the U.S. state of Virginia announced a  
> collaboration with CK-12 to produce an open source physics textbook,  
> a major coup for the young non-profit organization.
>
> "I am delighted that Neeru is joining us," said Michael Snow,  
> Chairman of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. "In addition  
> to her understanding of the educational arena both in the United  
> States and elsewhere, Neeru is experienced with the challenges of  
> building and leading non-profit organizations. As we grow and  
> evolve, her expertise will be enormously valuable and welcomed."
>
> The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the volunteer-written  
> encyclopedia with a staff of just under 25 people, created its  
> Advisory Board in January 2007 as a mechanism for input from leaders  
> and thinkers in fields like education, technology, and free culture.  
> Advisory Board members convene with Wikimedia's leadership once a  
> year and also support the organization in their specific areas of  
> expertise.
>
> "When people want to learn things online, they go to Wikipedia  
> first," said Neeru Khosla. "It's absolutely clear to me that anyone  
> who cares about education online should seriously consider how they  
> can help Wikipedia do an even better job. It's an important cause,  
> and I'm more than happy to volunteer."
>
> In March 2008, the Wikimedia Foundation received a $500,000 donation  
> from Vinod and Neeru Khosla.
>
> The current Advisory Board membership includes:
>
>    * Angela Beesley (Chair, Wikimedia Advisory Board; co-founder,  
> Wikia)
>    * Ward Cunningham (Developer of the first wiki)
>    * Heather Ford (Executive director, iCommons)
>    * Debbie Garside (Multi-lingual web pioneer)
>    * Melissa Hagemann (Open Access advocate)
>    * Danny Hillis (Engineer, author, inventor)
>    * Mitch Kapor (Founder/Co-founder Lotus Developments, EFF,  
> Mozilla Foundation)
>    * Neeru Khosla (Co-founder, CK-12)
>    * Teemu Leinonen (Head, Learning Environments research group of  
> the Media Lab, University of Art and Design Helsinki)
>    * Rebecca MacKinnon (Journalist; founder, Global Voices Online)
>    * Wayne Mackintosh (Education specialist, Commonwealth of Learning)
>    * Benjamin Mako Hill (Author, free software advocate)
>    * Erin McKean (Chief consulting editor, American Dictionaries at  
> Oxford University Press)
>    * Trevor Neilson (Partner, Global Philanthropy Group)
>    * Florence Nibart-Devouard (Former Chair, Wikimedia Foundation  
> Board of Trustees; Scientist)
>    * Achal Prabhala (Journalist and researcher)
>    * Jay Rosen (Journalist, author, educator)
>    * Clay Shirky (Author, consultant, educator)
>    * Peter Suber (Open Access advocate)
>    * Raoul Weiler (ICT advocate)
>    * Ethan Zuckerman (Research Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet  
> and Society at Harvard Law School)
>
> For more information, visit: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Advisory_Board
>
> ''About the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia''
> wikimediafoundation.org
> wikipedia.org
>
> The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization which  
> operates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore,  
> Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia  
> Foundation receive more than 270 million unique visitors per month,  
> making them the 4th most popular web property world-wide. Available  
> in more than 265 languages, Wikipedia provides more than 11 million  
> articles contributed by a global volunteer community of more than  
> 100,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia  
> Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily  
> through donations and grants.
>
>

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:54:01 -0800
From: "Erik Moeller" <erik at wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Report to the Board of Trustees: October
    2008
To: effeietsanders at gmail.com,     "Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List"
    <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
    <b80736c80812151254l5aac0555i3db3d03682ab8433 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

2008/12/14 effe iets anders <effeietsanders at gmail.com>:
> But also have a small additional suggestion. Would it be nice to the
> chapters to have somewhere a list of all major software WMF is using? As a
> suggestion list? For example, GIMP for promotional images editing etc, so
> that the chapters have an easier time looking for free software on
> accounting etc. Would be great!

I started a page for this purpose a while ago:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FLOSS-Exchange

We have a mixed Mac/Linux office environment. We're not currently
using open source software for accounting and for more complex design
work. Most calendaring is done via Google right now.
-- 
Erik M?ller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:11:09 +0100
From: "effe iets anders" <effeietsanders at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Report to the Board of Trustees: October
    2008
To: "Erik Moeller" <erik at wikimedia.org>
Cc: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
    <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
    <73f3ff1b0812151411l1067be07y2c16acde1d1b599f at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Nice page. But could you perhaps also list the non-free software used there
sometime, so that the community could suggest otherwise? :)

2008/12/15 Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org>

> 2008/12/14 effe iets anders <effeietsanders at gmail.com>:
> > But also have a small additional suggestion. Would it be nice to the
> > chapters to have somewhere a list of all major software WMF is using? As
> a
> > suggestion list? For example, GIMP for promotional images editing etc, so
> > that the chapters have an easier time looking for free software on
> > accounting etc. Would be great!
>
> I started a page for this purpose a while ago:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FLOSS-Exchange
>
> We have a mixed Mac/Linux office environment. We're not currently
> using open source software for accounting and for more complex design
> work. Most calendaring is done via Google right now.
> --
> Erik M?ller
> Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
>
> Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
>

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:57:28 -0800
From: Delirium <delirium at hackish.org>
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] and what if...
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
    <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID: <49473538.6080601 at hackish.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

David Gerard wrote:
> It
> would be novel indeed to have a Holocaust denier who wasn't a crank as
> an editor, but I don't expect it to happen any time soon.
>  

You'd be surprised, then. If you're talking about Holocaust-denial 
*activists*, trying to edit articles to encompass that point of view, 
then sure. But normal people who believe the Holocaust either didn't 
happen or was overblown, but realize their view is a minority one and 
edit in other areas? We have quite a few, especially editors from Arab 
countries.

-Mark

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:54:35 +0100
From: "Gerard Meijssen" <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Report to the Board of Trustees: October
    2008
To: effeietsanders at gmail.com,     "Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List"
    <foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
    <41a006820812152354v2023bf38q61b975f34b3a10c7 at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Hoi,
When you run an organisation, stability in procedures ensures that you get
work done. Procedures are to a large part dependent on the tools that are
used. If anything it is disruptive to have to continually assess
alternatives in software because of external factors. It is also expensive
and I do say that there is enough where the WMF underspends.
Thanks,
        Gerard

2008/12/15 effe iets anders <effeietsanders at gmail.com>

> Nice page. But could you perhaps also list the non-free software used there
> sometime, so that the community could suggest otherwise? :)
>
> 2008/12/15 Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org>
>
> > 2008/12/14 effe iets anders <effeietsanders at gmail.com>:
> > > But also have a small additional suggestion. Would it be nice to the
> > > chapters to have somewhere a list of all major software WMF is using?
> As
> > a
> > > suggestion list? For example, GIMP for promotional images editing etc,
> so
> > > that the chapters have an easier time looking for free software on
> > > accounting etc. Would be great!
> >
> > I started a page for this purpose a while ago:
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FLOSS-Exchange
> >
> > We have a mixed Mac/Linux office environment. We're not currently
> > using open source software for accounting and for more complex design
> > work. Most calendaring is done via Google right now.
> > --
> > Erik M?ller
> > Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
> >
> > Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
> >
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>

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