Kurt Jansson wrote:
Of course not. Wikipedia should take part because
software patents could
have direct effects on the project. They threaten free software (like
MediaWiki) in general, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone claimed to
have a patent on "websites which are editable by visitors" (of course
formulated much more eloquently).
Well, lots of things could possibly affect us. War, changes to the
U.S. tax laws, proposed 'hate speech' laws in the U.S. and Europe, the
list is endless.
Taking sides
is something that
all of us have a moral responsibility to do as individuals, but
Wikipedia the encyclopedia is outside politics.
Sorry, but that sounds a bit naive to me.
Maybe, but that's what's so charming about me, isn't it? ;-)
Seriously, though, I think it's naive to think that we can start down
a path of using Wikipedia for political purposes and not set some very
bad precedent for the future, bad *internal* precedent, leading to
huge amounts of internal dissent. As if we don't have enough already.
--Jimbo