[WikiEN-l] strategy.wikimedia.org - slightly overwhelmed by discrepancy between "interactive" proposals and wikimedia goals

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

i'm in need of some help.  there are a number of proposals which
recommend the use of java and flash, and, unfortunately, the java
applet advocates are alarmingly.... unreasonable and vocal.

the deployment of any programming language as a means to express
and/or extend wikimedia pages is so at odds with the principle of a
universally editable encyclopedia that i am having great difficulty
even comprehending why anyone would advocate them, in direct
contravention of the key strategic goals of wikipedia.

here's articles essentially calling for the same thing: a means to do
interactive / animated wikipedia.  the first three are great - the
second three are incomprehensibe:

http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Text_or_Syntax_driven_Charts,_Diagrams,_Graphs_and_more
http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Inline_SVG_preference
http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Foundations_for_Interactive_Articles

http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Add_OpenLaszlo/Java_support_to_make_interactive_content_possible
http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Java_applet_support
http://strategy.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposal_talk:Allow_upload_of_flash_animations

the reason why i'm asking for help is because i have a tendency to
shout and jump up and down when presented with things that are complex
(multi-faceted) but blindingly obvious to me.  i tend to find that
things that are blindingly obvious to me aren't so blindingly obvious
to others, and the "java applets" proposal is one such example.  i'm
finding that, like those kid's toys with the buttons on top, where you
press one button and the others go down, the advocates of the "java
applets" proposal cannot comprehend more than one idea at a time,
cannot take on board the "overview", and keep picking "individual
holes" whilst ignoring other negative aspects.  every time i tackle
one issue, in bite-size comprehensible chunks, they go "ahh, but!"
and i can't deal with this kind of approach.

so i would very much appreciate if other people could pitch in and
provide their views on the subject.  of course, if you think it's a
_good_ idea to make contributing to wikipedia be _more_ elitist than
it is already perceived to be, then i will simply be jumping up and
down with a larger audience to entertain.

overall: the goal is to open up wikipedia to a wider audience, and if
that can be achieved whilst at the same time taking advantage of what
technology has to offer (such as the new WikiReader), _great_.  i
trust that anyone reading this shares that same view and will help
weed out wikipedia proposals that are contrary to that goal.

l.