[Wikipedia-l] Any plans for "WikiBook"??

[Ray Saintonge]

abhio at vsnl.net wrote:

>Hi,
>   I was very keen to know whether the guys at wiki have plans to start a project to produce e-books/textbooks out of wiki articles. There was another similar request on the group also, so will the guys at wiki please respond back and tell us if they're interested on starting something like this. I have a whole lot of ideas that I was hoping to share on this sort of a project.
>I've put down all these ideas on my website, its at http://www.geocities.com/abioommen
>I've put a name to it -- gdocs.org -- but thats just for the heck of it and I don't have the resources or time to do it alone. Its a idea that I believe that Wiki can really bring to reality and it can kick off some sort of a revolution in open-content, if wiki seriously does something like this.
>So I was hoping if the guys at wiki would start something like this!!
>
As much as I support the underlying concepts of this proposal, I believe 
it has to wait until the "foundation" is in place.  This will be a 
modest revenue generating venture which will need to have a place to 
deposit its money, and will also need to manage costs related to 
producing printed books.  Those costs can be significant.  

 Besides the obvious benefit of having the Wikipedia available to a 
larger audience, physical publication will also be helpful in 
guaranteeing that the open licence nature of Wikipedia is protected for 
a long time after the present contributors are gone.  Being able to 
produce a printed text at that time will be prima facie proof that the 
person using it cannot legally override the open licence with his own 
copyright.

In short: a great idea but still premature.

Eclecticology