[Foundation-l] Wikiversity

[Michael Snow]

William Pietri wrote:
> On 03/19/2010 08:06 AM, Geoffrey Plourde wrote:
>   
>> I must respectfully disagree with your belief that we need stronger global blocking. Each community should set its own behavior standards, not have them imposed from above. Just because we consider a person a troll on one project does not automatically make them a troll on other projects.
>>    
>>     
> Global blocking doesn't require imposition from above. It could be done 
> cooperatively, without any community ceding jurisdiction.
>   
Very true, and that's how we are trying to think about these issues 
generally, not just blocking. It doesn't make sense in most situations 
for the board or the foundation to interfere directly, nobody wants 
things to work that way. At the same time, a community does need to 
actively decide upon and maintain certain standards and not, as some 
people try to do, abdicate that responsibility back to the foundation. A 
community that fails to have standards is not really a community, nor is 
it worth preserving.

To indicate the direction we're going, I'll give an illustration in a 
less contentious area. We recently had steward elections, and as in past 
cycles, the final candidates were appointed by the board. However, the 
board has decided to remove itself from the process going forward, and 
let the stewards manage the appointment process with the assistance of 
the Volunteer Coordinator if necessary. That's more consistent with the 
community taking jurisdiction over its own affairs, or becoming more 
self-governing if you will.

Incidentally, that offers a reminder that we do have some existing 
community structure to manage global project issues, whether it's 
blocking or something else. While I wouldn't say that the Meta wiki is 
coextensive with the global community, it's one of the spaces that can 
be used.

--Michael Snow