[Wikipedia-l] The Board -> Mav's disgust

Andrew Lih andrew.lih at gmail.com
Wed Sep 15 10:08:42 UTC 2004


On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 11:57:20 +0200, Gerard Meijssen
<gerardm at myrealbox.com> wrote:
> > The sentiment is dittoed here. I don't have a clue what all this
> > hoo-ha is about, but that fact alone seems to suggest that something
> > clandestine occurred. From what I understand, this is something that,
> > if worked out correctly, *could* be beneficial to all the Wikipedias.
> > So why haven't I heard anything about this on en.wikipedia.org? It's
> > not even on the Community Portal. And the fact that someone as
> > even-headed as mav is even thinking about quitting makes me wonder
> > just what's going on.

I've no reason to doubt the good intentions of the board. However, the
place where it should have been announced or discussed before a vote
(m:Goings-on) didn't have it, nor was there a any significant call on
EN. So there has been a breakdown somewhere along the line in terms of
due process, and it does seem a dark cloud hangs over the new project.

One of the benefits of wikis, and why we love them so, is exactly the
elimination of process. Clay Shirky talks about this specifically
(http://www.corante.com/many/20030801.shtml)

However, when it comes to major extra-wiki decisions, such as creation
of new projects, or board level decisions, process should be defined
and followed. We're all breaking new ground here with the board and
its role, so let's learn from this and "reboot" in an appropriate
manner, even if it means suspending Wikispecies and going back to
obtain some kind of quorum (if not consensus).

-- 
Andrew (User:Fuzheado)



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