[WikiEN-l] response to "content free email" accusation

Thu Feb 26 22:01:11 UTC 2004

I expressed in that email a legitimate concern I had on a very personal matter unrelated to my present difficulties here.

I would like to respond to one critic of this email:

***BEGIN QUOTE***
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 13:11:35 -0800
From: Delirium <delirium at rufus.d2g.com>
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] About Plautus Satire
To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l at Wikipedia.org>
Message-ID: <403E6107.7030600 at rufus.d2g.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed

Jimmy Wales wrote:

>p.s.  Just to make sure I'm clear on what I find insulting about the
>"revenue streams" question, it isn't the notion that I might someday
>make some revenue from wikipedia.  It's my dream, in fact, that this
>could someday be my fulltime job, an honorable job which I would be
>proud to have earned.  It's the notion that I'd debase my ideals for
>the encyclopedia in the process that I find offensive.
>  
>
Oddly enough, you've even been one of the more stringent voices against 
putting Wikipedia in a position where that might even unintentionally, 
as might happen if it were to become financially reliant on large grants 
from a particular government or organization (which would then be able 
to say "well, you can do what you want, but we don't feel we can 
continue to support you if you do [...]").

So really a content-free email, but I think most (all?) of us here 
aren't too worried about that possibility.

-Mark
***END QUOTE*

I would just like to say that in my defense, the accusations that have been laid against me recently are in strong contradiction with my recent behaviour.

I have gone out of my way to be courteous, considerate and cooperative in contributing content. hmm Please overlook that alliteration, it was completely coincidental but I see upon brief reflection that it may be interpreted as a glib remark. I am now considering backspacing over this text, but recent experience has taught me that a better course of action would be to explain in minute detail precisely why it should be inoffensive.

Thank you for your consideration, and I hope you see my point here. I am not trying to be combative, on the contrary, I have tried to end hostilities, and not seek any retaliation for what I perceive as bad behaviours against me.

Codie Vickers

(P.S.: On an irrelevant side note, Mr. Wales is now being taken at face value for reasonable comments he made about me. Should my comments about myself ever after be taken as jokes or dodges because of bad behaviour (like calling people insane assholes in private emails only tangentally related to wikipedia)?