I think we have to understand that there are no hard-and-fast rules to Wikipedia. IAR applies to every policy and every guideline, including, confusingly, itself.
Therefore, I don't think we can say "you may never VfD a page in project space". Nevertheless, I think it would be almost impossible to create a case in which policy might be put to a deletion vote. Even less one where it would actually succeed! Any posting of a policy or guideline that had been ratified by the community would struggle to be anything other than disrupting Wikipedia (possibly to make a point). As such, it would be immediately eligable for a speedy keep, and I would have no qualms about doing such myself.
As to other pages in the project namespace, I don't think we should forbid listing them on VfD. Apart from anything else, they could be seriously detrimental to the Wikipedia community if something misleading were put there, when it could not be replaced by something legitimate.
So, in all, I'd say that VfD'ing project namespace pages is not forbidden, and shouldn't be, so long as it isn't forbidden by an existing policy, such as WP:POINT.
Sam/smoddy
On 8/20/05, Essjay -Wikipedia- essjay-wiki@hotmail.com wrote:
(First, hello all, please be patient with me, as this is my first post to the mailing list and I'm sure I'll do something wrong in the process.)
I have a very specific question that I can't seem to find an answer to, and it seems that the mailing list is the best way to get a definative answer, particularly from our Fearless Leader. Everyone knows that there have been a couple of recent VfD's that have created havoc on the site, and have been commented on ad nauseam. I don't want to rehash those particular examples, rather, I want an answer to this question:
Is it appropriate for the fate of pages in the Wikipedia: (project) namespace to be decided on VfD?
The deletion policy is vague on the issue. I understand that the recent VfD's have involved specific issues that many would consider exeptions to policy, but all I want to know is, is it okay for otherwise acceptible pages in the project namespace to be VfD'd:
- If I propose a policy in good faith, is it acceptible to disregard
standard proceedure for gaining consensus and instead list the page on VfD, and if it survives, consider it policy, and if it fails, consider it dead? 2) If so, can established policies/guidlines be overturned by a VfD. For example, WP:BITE. 3) Finally, if established policy is subject to VfD, is official policy, for example, NPA and NPOV, subject to VfD, and if not, why is it any different from other policies that have gained consesus but are deletable under #2?
My guess is, getting a definative answer on the issue is about as likely as finding a flying pig, but I'm putting it out there nonetheless. I'd really like to see an answer in the form of: "No, VfD can't touch policy, including proposed policy" or "yes, all pages are subject to VfD." Bonus points if the header of that response says "From: jwales"
Thanks all for your patience,
Essjay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Essjay Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org
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