[WikiEN-l] Re: Learn PHP

Fri Nov 19 12:35:12 UTC 2004

On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 23:28:49 +1100, Tim Starling
<t.starling at physics.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> Matt R wrote:
> 
> 
> >  --- Tim Starling wrote:
> >
> >
> >>Unfortunately it seems most programmers on Wikipedia would rather think
> >>of excuses, complain about the lack of progress and file bug reports.
> >
> >
> > There's an unfortunate tendency on Wikipedia to suppose that if you identify a
> > problem that you can fix, then you have an obligation to fix it. Even if you
> > have the capability, there is no moral imperative for volunteers to do anything
> > at all on Wikipedia, and documenting a problem is already a positive
> > contribution, albeit a comparatively minor one. Of course, to grumble or whine
> > about a problem that you've identified is churlish, as you have no right to
> > expect that others fix things on your behalf.
> >
> > But to get to the point: I'm very grateful to the developers. I would quite
> > like to hack on Mediawiki myself some day, but right now I prefer to spend my
> > time contributing to the content of articles -- this is not an *excuse*; this
> > is a choice, and I (only mildly!) resent any such implication.
> 
> I'm sorry if I caused offence, I just wanted to impress on everyone that
> Wikipedia has barely any developers. If you're ever wondering why some
> feature hasn't been written yet, it's because there's been no-one around
> to write it. Most of the active developers seem to be more interested
> writing features for a general audience than for Wikimedia projects.
> There's more editors on the Old English Wikipedia than there are
> developers overall. Maybe Matt doesn't want to help, and that's fine. I
> get the feeling Gerrit doesn't either. But is there anyone? Every second
> Wikipedian seems to know a programming language. We just need, say, two
> or three developers willing to put in a few hours per week.
> 
> -- Tim Starling
> 
> 
> 
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> 

I'd help were I paid - I'd love to do it as a job! But even my
Wikipedia editing is eating into valuable work time, in fact, too much
of my "relaxation time" is Wikipedia editing as it is. I should rest
my eyes more.

Sorry, but I can't afford to spend even a couple hours a week on
development, not to mention the initial familiarisation and learning
PHP (OK it'd be useful elsewhere - but I have enough to do with my
ordinary University research).

Zoney

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