[Wikipedia-l] 24 is driving me nuts

[Jimmy Wales]

Is 24 aware of the existence of this mailing list?  The mailing list
format is much better for discussing these meta-issues.

Daniel Lee Mayer wrote:
> 24 also created [[wikipedia:Natural Point of View]] as some type of 
> replacement of NPOV,

I'll have to read this, but NPOV is non-negotiable.  So long as stuff like this
is on the meta wikipedia, that's fine, though.  He's entitled to his opinions,
and we're entitled to ignore him or learn from him, as may be appropriate.

> makes other articles that are improperly capitalized, 
> such as [[Green Movement]], after he/she is made aware of naming conventions, 
> he/she also makes improperly pluralized pages such as [[Eco-villages]] 
> knowing about that policy etc.,  etc., etc., etc.

Improper capitalization is bad.

> An analogy, would be a news agency that is more concerned with making news 
> than reporting it. Should wikipedia become a place where crackpots can air 
> their views and gain unwarranted exposure? Should we be in the business of 
> legitimizing terms and definitions that Google can only find a small handfull 
> of examples of? Do we want wikpedia to become a soapbox?

I would say "no", "yes" and "no".  :-)  Let me explain.

Let's say there is a term -- "military fiat" which is not widely used,
but which does have a fairly consistent usage when it is used.  Then,
our article on it should describe what the term means, and who uses it
that way.

The particular article, [[Military fiat]] is pretty bad currently, but
I don't think that the existence of the article is problematic.  A
quick search of google reveals that "military fiat" is not a common
expression, but when it is used, it does mean "a process whereby a
decision is made and enforced by military means without the
participation of other political elements."

> I do believe that 24 is harming the project - at the very least this
> person is causing unproductive angst among longtimes users. The
> actions of this person is probably also giving visitors and newbies
> the wrong idea about the project.

[...]

> I think it is time to warn 24 to cease many of the above activities. 

Well, warn seems to imply an "or else".  Or else what?

Unless his actions rise to the level of vandalism, I don't think we'd
be wise to ban him.  That would be a horrible precedent, I think.
Very un-wiki.

I'd say that the only "or else" that's validly open to us is "or else
we'll continue to edit the hell out of your articles until they are
NPOV".  There's a lot more of everyone else than him.

--Jimbo