[Foundation-l] Autocreated global accounts (was: [Wikitech-l] $wgCentralAuthAutoNew=true)

Sat Aug 23 22:04:02 UTC 2008

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 7:41 AM, <vacuum at jeb.no> wrote:

> Although this may solve some problems at the larger communities, it might
> create a problem at smaller communities. Previously trolls could be detected
> because they was editing as anonymous, now they will be more likely to
> operate as logged in users.
>

On the whole, it does make things easier across the board, both for
legitimate users and trolls. Holes in the net at one wiki are suddenly holes
in the net for everyone. Small and large wikis alike need to watch out for
this. If you're not already, it may be handy to watch edits from new
accounts at [[Special:Contributions/newbies]].

If this shall be of real benefit somehow the smaller communities should be
> able to report a global user as troublesome. Turned around this could also
> lead to a small community blacklisting an otherwise good contributor.
>

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Steward_requests/SUL_requests#Requests_for_locking_global_accounts

Could perhaps be expanded, but there is such a mechanism in place.
Ultimately, improved communication between wikis is probably always going to
be a net benefit. If all else fails, there's always [[m:metapub]].

Just some quick thoughts,
-Luna