[WikiEN-l] Links: a philosophical problem

[Guy Chapman aka JzG]

I have a dispute with another editor in respect of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamers_%281995_film%29

Question: should we use the Amazon sales page as a reference for the
release date on VHS?

I say we should not, because we should not link to pages with a "buy
here" link, it sends the wrong message to the legions of spammers, it
gives the impression of double standards (we revert spammer.com but
leave amazon.com, It's Not Fair[tm]) and the link guideline always
used to say not to link to commercial sites.

On the other hand it is the most convenient place to find the VHS
release date, a fact which is clearly so vital it cannot be omitted
and so controversial that it cannot be allowed to stand without a
citation.  OK, small dose of sarcasm there.

So: should we link to a retailer's sales page as a reference for
(trivial?) information?  Does the presence of a "buy now" link in and
of itself introduce a problem for the project?

Guy (JzG)
-- 
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JzG