[WikiEN-l] Re: WikiEN-l Digest, Vol 22, Issue 24

Tue May 10 01:02:54 UTC 2005

Timwi <timwi at gmx.net> wrote:
> Leif Knutsen wrote:
>
>> If I am not unblocked immediately, I am happy to find another hobby.
>> I believe my contributions speak for themselves - that would be a
>> great loss for the WP community.

>And again. Why do newbies keep posting this? How many people actually
>fall for this? How many people actually read this and go "OMG we're
>gonna lose a valuable contributor! Must unblock quick!!!"?

I'll remember next time to show greater humility before all those wiser than 
me, but perhaps you will also let me know when I've edited enough articles 
to move from being "newbie" to "peon cadet," or whatever the next level is.

I do appreciate the need to enforce rules and be consistent about it, but I 
also think that a) a warning is in order before blocking someone; b) the 
person who is being blocked should have some means of defending his/her 
actions; and c) it should always raise flags in a situation like this, when 
the person (an admin) whose deletions were reverted reported the reverts; 
and another, who only a few weeks before had lost a dispute with me, jumped 
at the opportunity to block me. I'll grant they both acted within the letter 
of the law, so to speak, but they both misbehaved - and badly. If there's a 
pattern of such misconduct over time among such admins, they shouldn't be 
admins - after all, being an admin involves a responsibility that is greater 
than being an editor, as this episode amply demonstrates.

As for my "threat," it was meant earnestly. I work 60 hour weeks, am the 
parent of two kids, one of whom has special needs, and I have a long 
commute. I am doing this partly because I think it's fun and partly because 
I think it's important. I expect lots of disagreements here, and plenty of 
obnoxious, unreasonable, and ignorant people. But I also expect that the 
role of admin is taken seriously. You all don't have to be perfect, but 
there's got to be a higher standard among you; and I can safely predict that 
this whole enterprise will collapse under its own weight unless the 
responsibility of doing the right thing isn't reinforced and if necessary 
enforced. The two individuals who (probably inadvertently) colluded to block 
me should be ashamed of their actions, and I'll stand by that.

All the best,

Leifern