[WikiEN-l] Semi-solid evidence that process is in fact dangerous to Wikipedia

Tue Sep 5 13:15:37 UTC 2006

On 9/5/06, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> Which is precisely what I mean by using it as an example. I still get
> contacted by people upset that "Wikipedia called me a vanity writer,
> what can I do short of taking legal action?" and trying to explain
> that it's a jargon term ... one which the AFD regulars were kindly
> asked not to fucking use for this precise reason. Nuke from orbit,
> rebuild from scratch.
>
> Policy: We delete some stuff.
> Process: something Kafka would have found implausible.

Well, yes -- because, unlike policy (which, at least in theory, gets
some wide review from a variety of editors), process tends to drift
towards what the regular participants find most convenient.  The AFD
regulars qute naturally resist any change to AFD that might make it
less usable for the regulars; and, at the same time, the people who
*become* AFD regulars are, for the most part, those attracted to the
way the process functions.  It's a self-reinforcing system.

-- 
Kirill Lokshin