[Wikipedia-l] They don't want a fork - they want to change *this* project (was A Solution to Larry Sanger's Criticisms - Project Has Been Around For A While)

[Fred Bauder]

Wikipedia has strong network effects, but like any bubble, needs to fulfill
its promise, by actually filling in reliable content, a project Larry Sanger
is unlikely to assist with either personally or by mobilizing other talent.

Fred

> From: David Gerard <fun at thingy.apana.org.au>
> Reply-To: wikipedia-l at Wikimedia.org
> Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2005 23:24:59 +1100
> To: wikipedia-l at Wikimedia.org
> Subject: [Wikipedia-l] They don't want a fork - they want to change *this*
> project (was A Solution to Larry Sanger's Criticisms - Project Has Been Around
> For A While)
> 
> Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se) [050205 09:24]:
> 
>> I think there is a good deal of substance in Larry Sanger's and Robert
>> McHenry's criticism.  They are correct as long as they describe the
>> problem they see.  However, the outsider's perceived anti-elitism
>> doesn't necessarily originate from an intentional anti-elitism in the
>> community.  And since it isn't intentional, it is quite impossible to
>> "abandon" this anti-elitism, so Larry fails provide a solution.  He
>> suggests a fork of the project.  Yes, maybe he should try this.
> 
> 
> He specifically didn't suggest a fork, as far as I can see - he wanted to
> change *this* project's working methods.
> 
> The thing is, it's blindingly obvious that Wikipedia is going to be THE
> encyclopedia. Wikipedia, not some other open-content web-based
> encyclopedia, will have the brand identification Britannica had in the 20th
> century. We are it. We are the one. Anyone else catching up is as unlikely
> as FreeBSD taking over market share from Linux, even as its fans swear by
> it.
> 
> The annoying aspect of this is that (a) the POV warriors have a point: this
> is the popular one they need to hit to push their POV as NPOV; (b) people
> annoyed at Wikipedia don't form a fork with different policies, they're
> going to try to change this project instead. So Larry Sanger doesn't talk
> about forming another project with policies to his liking - he talks about
> how to put a spanner in the works of this one before it's too late.
> 
> 
> - d.
> 
> 
> 
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