[Foundation-l] Re: Wikimedia Communs

Thu May 27 11:25:43 UTC 2004

Michael Snow wrote:
> Yes, but until today, every time I've looked at the list of subscribers, 
> Jimbo's email was marked as having list delivery disabled. So as far as 
> I know, he hasn't been reading the messages on this list for most or all 
> of its existence. 

That's correct, but I didn't even know this until yesterday.  I
remember when, once upon a time, my mail was bouncing for a day, and
all the mailing lists automatically marked me as delivery disabled.  I
re-enabled the major lists, but overlooked this one, which had at that
time almost no traffic I think.

Then, I thought that discussion here had fizzled.  I had no idea.

> That's not necessarily a criticism of Jimbo, who has many things to
> attend to, and can't be everywhere at once.

But absolutely nothing (except my family!) takes precedence with me
over Wikimedia Foundation policy.  It's my full-time job, and even
within Wikipedia, anything else I do is tangential.

> But when we collectively, consciously or unconsciously, only discuss
> policy issues "in his presence", our behavior gives the impression
> of Jimbo as a MeatBall:GodKing. A number of people have criticized
> the way these mailing lists operate, and some object to
> participating as a result.

It is my opinion that the people who refuse to participate in the
mailing lists for this kind of alleged reason are being silly and
counter-productive.  The objection is nonsense.

The mailing lists are unmoderated, and even people who are banned or
who don't edit Wikipedia are heartily invited to join the discussions.
The only people who have been kicked off of the mailing lists were
kicked off basically for spamming the list with dozens of SHOUTING
POSTS THAT SAID NOTHING.

> I think the mailing lists are useful, but we need to be aware of
> appearances and not reinforce the image of a cabal.

I do agree with this, but what should we do?  The mailing lists are
wide open to the public, public archives, easy subscription,
unmoderated.  If my participation causes people to say that the lists
are like a "King's Court", what do you recommend that I do about it?

--Jimbo