[Wikipedia-l] Re: No more new Wikipedias !

[Brion Vibber]

Angela wrote:
> On 9/24/05, Tim Starling <t.starling at physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
>>I created 5 new Wikipedias in June because I received a request from a
>>Wikimedia Board member. If I receive another such specific request, I'll
>>carry it out. I do that out of loyalty to them, not because I think it
>>contributes to our mission.
>
> I doubt you'll get another such request since I've been told that new
> language wikis is not a Board issue and I shouldn't be taking
> decisions on these or asking developers to start them.

Some while ago I stopped creating wikis except by an explicit request
from a board member since several cases have ended up being later
canceled entirely on Jimbo's order (Toki Pona) or at least turned out to
be quite controversial after the fact (dewikiversity). Starting a
weeks-long flamewar on the lists and pissing off contributors by
canceling their wiki months later turns out to be an unproductive and
un-fun use of my time. :)

But if nothing happens without board go-ahead, and the board won't issue
requests, well... nothing happens.

> What people
> fail to realise is that if the Board doesn't take these decisions (and
> perhaps they're right and the Board shouldn't) - then who is going to
> take them? There is increasingly resistance to the Board doing
> anything, but also resistance to them delegating any authority they
> may have had, which is just leading to stagnation. So, who should be
> taking the decision on new language wikis (and also on new projects),
> especially when no
> <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposed_policy_for_wikis_in_new_languages>
> has ever been agreed upon?

If you board guys could stamp your approval on that policy and
explicitly state I have authority for new-language addition following
those rules as Chief Technical Doohickey, I'd be happy to do it. (Under
those rules it's pretty clear Toki Pona wouldn't have happened due to
the requirement to seek public consensus first; dewikiversity wouldn't
have happened due to it being a separate project and thus not covered by
these rules.)

If not, then I need some marching orders one way or the other.

-- brion vibber (b4ion @ pobox.com)
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