[Foundation-l] Self-determination of language versions in questions of skin?

[Martin Maurer]

On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 12:36 PM, Tim Starling <tstarling at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Editor communities do not have any fundamental rights to choose how
> MediaWiki is configured. However, the Foundation's goals are closely
> aligned with those of the communities, and the Foundation respects the
> central role communities play in the success of the projects, and so
> the Foundation has usually honoured such configuration requests.
>
> In this case, I would recommend a process of negotiation. Detail your
> concerns in Bugzilla, and give the developers time to respond to them.
> A premature vote on the issue would make compromise difficult. The
> Foundation has spent a lot of time and money on the Vector skin, and
> it would be a pity to see it thrown away.
>
> -- Tim Starling

Thanks for your reply, Tim. No worries, in no case would Vector be
'thrown away'. We are happy that Wikipedia offers not just one skin,
the default, but multiple skins, and Vector is certainly appreciated
as a new option in the list. Variety and choice in the look and feel
of the user interface is one of our great assets. I trust the
Foundation sees that the same way. We allow individual users to select
and customize their skin, and it might be in the same spirit to allow
individual wikis to choose and customize their default skin.

Everyone is aware that a lot of time and money has gone into the
development of Vector. But none of that would be lost because a) there
are many Wikimedia projects in many language versions and Vector seems
to enjoy good support elsewhere (correct me if I'm wrong), b) Vector
remains a selectable skin in the preferences and many users use it
even when it's not the default skin. And surely we will get enough
feedback from all over the world to fix reported issues with Vector
even when single wiki communities reverted to (or decided to continue
to use) Monobook as the default skin for unregistered and newly
registered users. And at any time (say in a few months) it would be
easy to poll the community again to see which skin they prefer as
default now.

In no scenario would it mean an end to Vector. It might even help
Vector being improved more quickly and extensively than it otherwise
would. And it would make a good impression if the Foundation granted
communities that choice, I think.

Martin