[Foundation-l] hiding interlanguage links by default is a BadIdea, part 2

[Mark Williamson]

+1. I must admit I have been a bit surprised/shocked/irritated by the
tone of the comments from some of those involved with the usability
initiative. I always thought that Wikimedia valued community
decision-making, but now I'm being told that my "feedback" is greatly
appreciated and will be taken into consideration. That kind of
attitude is what I was referring to earlier in this thread when I
wondered to myself if Wikipedia had "jumped the shark"[1]. I am
convinced that the unique organizational structure of our
organization, in which the community has historically been given a
very high level of authority in the decision-making process, is one of
the key elements of our success. Are we going to let that go over the
issue of UI usability? Have we entered a new chapter in our history as
a community in which we, the people who have helped build this
project, no longer get to help make the important decisions by
contributing our ideas and venting our frustrations? Let me be the
first to say that I am extraordinarily saddened at this thought.

-m.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark


On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 1:14 PM, Gregory Maxwell <gmaxwell at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 3:37 PM, David Levy <lifeisunfair at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Sue Gardner wrote:
>>> Feedback is great, but it irritates me when people start using words
>>> like "stupid" -- that's what I was responding to.
>>
>> Perhaps you misread the context.  Austin wrote the word "stupid" as a
>> hypothetical example of nonconstructive commentary that should be
>> avoided.  No one has hurled an insult.
>
> Moreover "feedback" can itself be perceived as an insult.
>
> Imagine that someone cleaning your office took your important
> paperwork and dumped it in a bin.  You complain— "Hey we need that
> stuff to be accessible!" and they retort  "Thank you for your
> _feedback_. We'll consider it during our future cleaning plans".
>
> We're not just providing feedback here. We're collectively making a
> decision, as we've always done, thank you very much.
>
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>