[Foundation-l] Message to community about community decline

[Fred Bauder]

> The bar for contributing is higher. Whether because editing is more
> technically challenging, or because the rules and standards are more
> complex, or simply because more of what people know is documented than
> it was 4 years ago... it's harder in a variety of ways for people to
> contribute significantly on a regular basis (i.e. become regular
> editors, as opposed to making several contributions and not
> returning).
>
> We can try to relax some of these barriers, but they grew naturally
> along with the project; the needs of the project have evolved over
> time, so winding back the clock to 2006 may not be beneficial in as
> many was as some might think.
>
> Nathan

That's right. We are expecting a lot more quality than we once did,
perhaps forgetting that it took some of us years to acquire our current
skills, such as they are. I think we need some less punishing way to
learn; although books like How Wikipedia Works, if consulted, are part of
the solution. Another is not going ballistic when mistakes are made by
newbies, or your "enemies".

Fred