On 1/27/07, Rich Holton richholton@gmail.com wrote:
Wikipedia is not a web directory. There are (or were, at least) people who condense Wikipedia on CD/DVDs for use by those who don't have (reliable) internet access. This sort of distribution is a fundamental objective of the project. Suggesting that we don't need to include information because it's available elsewhere on the web suggests a misunderstanding of the project.
"Don't need to" is terribly simplistic. We don't have infinite resources, or infinite time. If we did, everything would be simple. But given that I can spend only finite per time working on Wikipedia, where would you, the hypothetical pointy-haired boss of Wikipedia want me to spend my time? Creating 10 stubs with 1 external link each, or creating 1 article with 10 lines of text?
There are endless ways of contributing to Wikipedia. Just because one chooses not to take up one of them doesn't mean one isn't contributing...
Steve