[Foundation-l] Image filter

Ray Saintonge saintonge at telus.net
Tue Mar 13 08:17:55 UTC 2012


On 03/09/12 10:00 PM, Thomas Morton wrote:
> On 10 March 2012 00:57, Ray Saintonge<saintonge at telus.net>  wrote:
>
>> On 03/09/12 6:06 AM, Neil Babbage wrote:
>>
>>> Wikimedia is not supposed to be some kind of exercise in perfection for
>>> perfection's sake. It's supposed to be open, accessible and useful.
>>>
>>>
>>>   "Useful", like "notable" is another of those words that cannot be easily
>> defined. In many otherwise non-controversial articles we have pictures that
>> do not further the contents of the articles.  They may have a loose
>> connection with the article's topic, but they don't add any information to
>> the topic. They do, however, break up solid blocks of text, and make it
>> more readable.
>>
>>
> But isn't that an equally subjective matter; I know several editors who
> consider such images (to break up prose) a hindrance and they remove them
> with vigour.
>
> To me you're just making an argument for a "Images used in a decorative
> capacity" category, so those people can read undisturbed :)
>
>
It*is* equally subjective. I can understand where those editors with a 
passion for removing decorative images are coming from, but they suffer 
from an excess of zeal.  But then too there is a point (which I can't 
define) where the decorative images can become excessive. Editorial 
judgement involves finding balances in this as well as in matters of 
sexually explicit pictures.

We get into trouble when we allow rules or software be the substitute 
for editorial judgement. However the rules and software are written, 
there will always be valid exceptions.

I think that where this whole debate got off the rails was with a one 
rule fits all resolution by the Board.

Ray



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