[Wikipedia-l] Wikipedia teamwork

[Jan Hidders]

On Thu, Aug 09, 2001 at 04:48:45PM +0200, Krzysztof P. Jasiutowicz wrote:
> 
> That's another point. Maybe I am a little paranoid but I feel that while
> wikipedia is doing so great I'm anxious what will it be in the future. How
> can we be sure that they won't shut down the server or make it payable.
> This is a commercial company after all, not the FSF.

Because the GFDL allows you to download everything and start your own
server. With some Perl magic you could request all edit-pages and dowload
the pre-formatted text, you could even use the same Wiki software, and I'm
sure we can trust Bomis enough to warn us in advance.

> The freewheeling edit-what-I-like-when-I-like attitude is only illusory 
> anarchic kind of freedom because LS comes in and ...

The success of Wikipedia is due to the cloud of enthusiasts and volunteers
that hangs around it. Larry has worked very hard to create that cloud, and
I'm sure he knows that if he would "come in and ..." the cloud might dissapear
or move to an alternative server.

However, Larry is doing an excellent job and I see no sign that this is
going to change. So setting up an alternative server would not only be a
bit silly, but also higly unthankful, considering the wonderful opportunity
they have given us.

Kind regards,

-- Jan Hidders