[WikiEN-l] Lies, damned lies, and statistics

[Steve Bennett]

On Sat, Apr 18, 2009 at 1:29 AM, Anthony<wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:
> Is Wales "sole founder"?  I don't think you can come up with a reasonable
> definition of "founder" by which that is true.

I would make the following observations based on my reading:

1) Wales' role in the genesis of Wikipedia is much more significant
than Sanger's. "Co-founder" is giving too much credit. The guy that
has the idea, the inspiration and the drive to make it happen deserves
more credit than the guy who implements it. "Employee" is probably
giving too little.
2) Some statements Wales made about Sanger's involvement are
demonstrably untrue - Sanger has produced emails that show this. I'm
prepared to accept that this is human fallability and vanity rather
than some mastermind scheme to diddle Sanger out of his place in
history.
3) None of this really matters because we all love Jimbo and we don't
like Sanger. I mean, all else aside, Jimbo contributed a huge amount
to Wikipedia basically out of a desire to help the human race. Sanger
made Citizendium out of a desire to piss off Jimbo.

Steve