[WikiEN-l] New York Times article

[Jimmy Wales]

Steve Bennett wrote:
> Anyway, the more I consider the facts, the less convinced I am. The
> problem is in the interpretation of "anyone can edit". Does it mean
> "anyone who wants to edit, can", or does it mean "anyone at all can
> edit". Normally this wouldn't matter, but it's critical if we're
> attempting to measure "anyone-can-edit-ness" (ACEN).

To me it means "To the maximal extent consistent with keeping vandalism
down to a dull roar, we try to let as many people edit as many things as
we can with as little barrier as possible.  When we are forced to enact
some barrier, we try to keep it as narrowly focussed as possible, and as
short term as possible."

It does not mean, and has never meant, "Come one, come all, even if you
are a jerk or complete idiot there is a home for you here."

The Germans have it right, in my opinion, on their homepage:
"Gute Autorinnen und Autoren sind stets willkommen."

"Good authors are always welcome."

I think that the upcoming experiental implementation of a "stable
article" feature (to be introduced first in the German community, most
likely) is going to be a nice step in the right direction, because
almost all article protection can be completely dropped.

--Jimbo

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