Hi all,
I would like to propose that we separate the bot right into bot and
boteditinterface, where the bot right only allows you to mark edits as
bot edits for non-mediawiki namespace edits and you would need the
boteditinterface right to mark any mediawiki namespace edits as a bot
edit. Furthermore, I would propose that nobody on Wikimedia wikis ever
get the boteditinterface right (But if I end up having to cave on that
requirement, at least we could restrict it to people who really need
it)
The idea being that any potential edit to site javascript should be
highly scrutinized and shown on the RC by default. Additionally, most
bots do not make edits to the MediaWiki namespace so this should not
cause an undue burden. Those that do make edits, do not make a super
large number. This proposal does not include edits made by
centralnotice extension, which will continue to be marked bot.
If you think this is a horrible idea, please object now :) For more
information see
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T151408 . If there
are no major objections from the wikitech-l community, I also plan to
notify the owners of bots who make edits to mediawiki namespace.
Thanks,
Brian.