Lars Aronsson wrote:
David Gerard wrote:
Mark, could you please submit this (with links to
whatever other
technical stuff would interest the geeks) to the Why Give? blog?
I think it answers the question marvellously.
If web traffic increases, causing a higher bandwidth cost, that is
then covered by Kennisnet, that *doesn't* answer the question why
one should donate to the Wikimedia Foundation. (Perhaps one
should donate to Kennisnet, or at least say thanks to all the
taxpayers in the Netherlands.)
And the servers needed to serve that traffic are free? :) And the
network equipment? And the increased traffic in Florida? And the people
that manage those servers? etc.
I'm not against donations, but I'm against
blurring these facts.
We should know, rather than guess, what is the best solution and
who can pick up which bill.
As Domas pointed out, much cost is involved in the
thin black line
at the bottom of that diagram. The diagram doesn't show why one
should need to donate. The amount of web traffic that is handled
is indeed impressive. But it isn't necessarily related to costs.
It's *very* related to costs.
--
Mark Bergsma <mark(a)wikimedia.org>
System and Network Administrator, Wikimedia Foundation