[WikiEN-l] Just what *is* Jimbo's role anyway? - "nofollow" decision

[Steve Bennett]

On 3/22/07, Seth Finkelstein <sethf at sethf.com> wrote:
>        Can I use this thread to ask a question as a "worked example"?
> *Procedurally*, what was the way in which "nofollow" was added to
> external links? My impression was that Wales just said to do it, and
> it was done, even though there was no "community consensus". Now, I'm
> not saying it was the wrong thing to do. But from an outsider's
> perspective, it was pretty much an instance of "He's the decider".

Was there really no "community consensus"? I seem to recall general
approval of the change. But "procedurally", as you put it, that may
not be the same thing: approving of the change, as opposed to building
consensus prior to a change and making the change on that basis.

What are you really getting at here? What point is your worked example
trying to illustrate? That Jimbo occasionally makes decisions without
explicitly checking for consensus is not in dispute. Whether this is
harmful, and on what level, is a more interesting question...

Steve