[WikiEN-l] What is the fundamental goal of the project?

[charles.r.matthews at ntlworld.com]

Omegatron wrote

> For instance, machine
> translations are considered "worse than nothing" because of their poor
> quality, so it would seem that "of the highest possible quality" is
> more important than "in their own language".

Unless they have got better recently, I wouldn't characterise machine translations as 'into' the target language. 
 
> If Jimbo's statement is still valid, which objectives override the
> others?  Can they be arranged (preferably by Jimbo) in order of
> priority?
> 
> Can this statement or the principles it represents ever be repealed or
> changed?  Who has the power to change it?  Is this simply a top-down
> authoritarian mandate that can't be challenged, or do regular
> Wikipedians have a say when changes are made to the ultimate goals and
> priorities of the project?

I expect the WMF Board can also issue mission statements, and update them. 

Charles

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