[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia struggles, Mozilla set for life?

[William Pietri]

Christiano Moreschi wrote:
> At the moment, we do not merit our elevated status. 

This just leaves me scratching my head.

The elevated status we have is popularity, popularity that comes from 
utility. We deserve our status in a way that's almost tautological. To 
say that we don't because we don't have the trappings that people 
associate with success is like saying that Mother Teresa doesn't deserve 
her popularity because she didn't wear nice clothes.

I agree that with more money, we could find ways to serve our readers 
better. And even with the funding we have, we can still find ways to 
improve. But I'd hate for people to confuse improvement with having a 
slick presentation or conforming to what a corporate executive would 
consider ordered.

Most of the web is built because people want something from you. Your 
money, your attention, your agreement, your adulation. It looks slick 
because you subconsciously like pretty things better, and therefore give 
up more of what people want from you. Wikipedia is different: our 
mission is to serve those hungry for knowledge. We aren't trying to 
manipulate people into anything, and have the freedom to be different. 
We should continue to do so.

William


-- 
William Pietri <william at scissor.com>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_Pietri