daniwo59(a)aol.com wrote:
Florence,
This is a very commendable email, and I admire its simplicity. The values
you suggest are instinctive to anyone who has been involved in the projects for
a while, but as Wikimedia grows, it is important to reiterate them again and
again for new staff and new project members, who have not been raised on
them.
That said, I do have a couple of questions and hope that you can clarify.
In a message dated 1/29/2008 5:06:37 PM Eastern Standard Time,
anthere(a)anthere.org writes:
Our community is our biggest asset
We are a community-based organization. We must operate with a mix of
staff members, and of volunteers, working together to achieve our mission.
We support community-led collaborative projects, and must respect the
work and the ideas of our community. We must listen and take into
account our communities in any decisions taken to achieve our mission.
Question: "Community" has always been a mantra of our projects. As such, I
was a bit surprised by an email exchange with Jay Walsh last week, in which he
said: "I'm hesitant to use the word 'community' as much as I'm
hesitant to
call people 'audience.' In reaching out to communicate, so far at least, I'm
more inclined to speak of users, editors, stakeholders, casual readers etc -
but this is my personal interpretation." I found his comment counter-intuitive,
given the nature of the projects to date, and wonder if you might clarify
your opinion on "community" and the terms used to describe it.
Yup.
Maybe I can point out to
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-December/036802.html
for a start ?
In my mind, the community here is a mix of "editing community",
"developer community" and "other people helping the WMF and who are not
part of the two first group".
Arguably, we could expand that to "all those who have something to say
about us". But keep in mind that this is intended as a guideline for the
staff, or for outsiders to get to know us more. I actually prefer that
the staff be more inclusive than the guidelines say, and actually also
listen to what BusinessWeek, the New Yorker, Larry Lessig, the director
of Alexandria Library, Assouline, or the Pope have to say. Than
requiring that they listen to any jerk who thinks he "has it right about
us". That would make no sense.
So, yes, Jay has to speak to and share with ALL stakeholders. But this
is not what is said above.
of service is a priority
We will try our best to give access to high quality Wikimedia project
content 24 hours a day and 7 days, as well as provide access to
regularly updated, user-friendly, and free dumps of Wikimedia project
content.
To insure world-wide, unrestricted, dissemination of knowledge, we do
not enter into exclusive partnerships, with regards to access to our
content or use of our trademarks.
Freedom
We make extra efforts to use only free software on our own servers, and
to support open and patent-free media formats that are viewable and
editable with free software.
Question: This was the subject of some debate last week, also on this
mailing list. Are we committed "exclusively" to open and patent-free media
formats
that are viewable and editable with free software?
For now, we are commited to nothing.
I told the community some time ago that the board has been proposed a
file format policy. As of today, no one but me has motion to vote the
resolution.
I am not sure whether than means that
* they were lazy, not available, tired, distracted, etc...
* or they actually do not agree we should commit exclusively to open and
etc...
We were supposed to have a board meeting this evening, but both Jimbo
and I were forcely offline at that moment. It will be next week and it
is on the agenda. Remind me to inform you if necessary ;)
Transparency
We must communicate Wikimedia Foundation information in a transparent,
thorough and timely manner, to our communities and more generally, to
the public.
Independance
As a non-profit, we mostly depend on gifts to operate (donations,
grants, sponsorship etc...). It is very important to us to ensure our
organization stays free of influence in the way it operates. For this
reason, we strictly follow a donation policy, reserve the right to
refuse donations from a limited number of sources, and try to multiply
the number of sources.
Question: As a charitable organization, it is easy to become dependent on
the largesse of major donors, who could hold considerable sway over day-to-day
operations. The answer is either to find an independent revenue stream or to
create an endowment to ensure that basic costs are covered in perpetuity.
Frankly, I am biased. I believe that "Independence" is the most important of
these values--without it we will not be able to withstand challenges to all the
other values. As such, what steps are being taken to ensure the Foundation's
financial independence?
You are perfectly correct, it is major issue.
We recently took an important step in modifying the gift policy
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Update_of_Gift_Policy_-_janu…
Do you have other steps to suggest or directions to explore that would
help Danny ?
I believe in the values as you expressed them, and I
am confident that the
Board will vote unanimously in support of them. I am just curious about some of
the practical implications, and eager to hear your thoughts on them.
Danny
Does that answer your questions ?
Ant