[WikiEN-l] Jimbo and his strategy

[Ben Emmel]

On 2/20/06, Death Phoenix <originaldeathphoenix at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> While I don't agree with everything you're saying or the way you're saying
> it, you make one interesting point: if Jimbo just came right out now and
> said "You are only allowed to have this sort of userbox, and you are only
> allowed to have x amount of them", this userbox fiasco would come to an
> end:
> admins can go around deleting them and all the userbox defenders would
> have
> nothing (concrete) to say about it. Conversely, if Jimbo said "all
> userboxes
> are fine", the userbox defenders are free to keep their userboxes, the
> admins will know not to delete anything, and we'll all be fine.
>
> I'm sure that part of the reason he hasn't is because he doesn't know what
> the right solution is, but the longer he waits, the longer this whole
> userbox fiasco's going to play out. But signs are really beginning to
> point
> to the fact that Jimbo will need to make an official decree about this
> whole
> mess.
>
> I think Jimbo came pretty close to expressing his wishes with the Template
> CSD, but there will likely come a time when we need him to make a stronger
> and more official statement on Wikipedia.
>

I think that this is becoming the only viable solution. However, the
userboxen supporters are also the loudest in shouting "Cabal, Cabal!!", and
hearkening for the ruin of Jimbo. Just today did I see a userbox comparing
him to something out of 1984. In short, they deny everything that Jimbo does
for the good of Wikipedia.

These users greatly lose fact of basic Wikipedia principles: that we are
here to build an encyclopedia, that you don't have a right to edit, and
don't have an automatic right to "free speech". Truly, we have a sort of
Wiki-"generation gap." I don't see an end to these issues any time soon.

--
Ben Emmel
Wikipedia - User:Bratsche
"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees."
-- William Blake