[Wikimedia-l] If I could talk to the wiki folks...

[Ziko van Dijk]

Hello,
A week ago, as I found out now, a new association has been found in
New York: "Wiki Med Foundation, Inc." (!). We have the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., we have some other Wikimedias, we have MediaWiki...
how is the ordinary man on the street supposed to have the slightest
chance to understand the Wikimedia movement? He even confuses
"Wikimedia" with "Wikileaks"...
I know that that is not the case, but sometimes it even seems that
Wikimedians do want to make the movement a terminogical labyrinth. The
WMF came with a simple scheme for national chapters, with the formula
"Wikimedia X" (with X being the name of the country). I wish something
similar for thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups, and not
the advice to even avoid the term "Wikimedia". Confusing terms are a
serious barrier for participation, on Wikipedia and in the larger
movement.
Kind regards,
Ziko


    If I could talk to the wiki folks, just imagine it
    Chatting with a chick on IRC
    Imagine talking on a talk page, buzzing from a banner
    What a neat achievement that would be.

    If I could talk to the wiki folks, learn their languages
    Maybe take a data dump degree.
    I'd study mastodon and diesel, camel case and weasel,
    Interwiki, vandal and IP.

    I would converse in C++ and Python,
    And I would curse in fluent wikify.
    If people asked me, can you speak sock puppetry,
    I'd say, 'Of coursery, but why?'

    If I conferred with our fuzzy friends, man to editor,
    Think of the amazing repartee
    If I could talk to the wiki folks, fork to the wiki folks,
    Diff and rev and link with the wiki folks,
    And they could diff and rev and link with me.

    If I could speak CC-BY-SA
    The advantages any sandbox noob could plainly see!
    Discussing worldwide GLAM and drama
    With oh so witty llama
    That’s a big step forward you’ll agree!