[Foundation-l] [Wikitech-l] Google Summer of Code

Mon Apr 17 13:02:52 UTC 2006

Dirk Riehle wrote:

>>can falter.  Additionally, as the Mozilla note mentioned,
>>contributions that aren't part of the mainline will likely bitrot.  (I
>>don't have a solution to this; just a cautionary note.)
>>    
>>
>Well, the main solution is to create an ecosystem where people get 
>hired to work (full-time) on providing such extensions (or additions 
>to the mainline) to MediaWiki. Only this setup can provide some continuity.
>
>I'm working on getting projects setup to do exactly that. (I 
>mentioned this in a private note.) But for that to work the MediaWiki 
>community needs be accepting of (corporate) contributions (assuming 
>they follow the licenses and community spirit).
>
What could be more important is to ensure that anything done for free 
stays free.  It would be shameful to have volunteer efforts tied up by 
someone else's patents.

The question of who should benefit from online work is very much an 
unsettled area with broad societal implications.  Many of us do feel a 
sense of being net contributors to society when we altruistically spend 
many hours in Wiktasks.  Unfortunately, as the saying goes, it does not 
put bread on the table, and it does not pay for our hardware.  It is 
difficult, however, to imagine a working economic model that would 
insure that the benefits of our efforts are shared equitably.

Ec