Peter Mackay wrote:
From:
wikien-l-bounces(a)Wikipedia.org
[mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Thurston
Why shouldn't the companies making money from
the Wikipedia
data at the microscale should be the primary funders of Wikipedia?
<snip>
If, as you say, some large companies derive a
commercial benefit from WP and
should fund us, then what is to stop them from downloading MediaWiki, hiring
some professionals, and building their own encyclopaedia, perhaps as a joint
effort with Google along with toolbars and popups and so on? That way,
they'd get the same benefits as well as control over the operation and a
more focused product.
There's one thing they wouldn't get - control of the community. Yes, WP
is primarily an encyclopedia, but it wouldn't be /anything/ without its
contributors.
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