[Wikipedia-l] Re: Developers should mind their own business

Tue Mar 9 12:57:33 UTC 2004

Daniel Mayer wrote:
> Great idea Tim! I don't care much for the name - "developer" has been used
for
> a long time to refer to those blessed and wonderful code junkies that hang
out
> on WikiTech-l and play with MediaWiki. Replacing their title with
> site-administrator will add more confusion as well. Why not just add all
those
> abilities to bureaucrat accounts?

Because I tried to do that and I was shouted down from all sides, that's
why.

> Or better yet, couldn't we even get rid of the bureaucrat account type by
> requiring at least 3 admins to approve bureaucrat+-type actions? Kinda
like
> requiring two keys turned by two people at once and having to enter the
correct
> codes in order to launch a nuke.

That's far more complicated to implement, that's the main argument against
it. It also slows down response times. Additionally, people are generally
opposed to giving sysops power which stretches across multiple wikis. Key to
this proposal is that it allows for interwiki administration, a power
formerly only given to data-processing specialists.

> The idea of adding yet another level of hierarchy to our community doesn't
rub
> me the right way...

It's not another level. One level is deleted, another is created in its
place. The number of levels is the same. All I want is for non-programmers
to take over certain jobs from programmers.

> >Respect for him in the community is universal.
>
> If true, which I don't think it is, then I would be very uncomfortable
with
> that - I don't want my words to have disproportionately more force than
their
> actual content and inherent merit.

Of course, sorry if I offended you.

-- Tim Starling