On Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Virgilio A. P. Machado <v...@fct.unl.pt> wrote: > I absolutely agree. My "characterization of > possible motivations is frankly beyond the pale." > In fact it is a very rosy characterization. There > is proof buried in this mailing list and in my > mailboxes of utter indifference, if not outright > contempt for the problems of a Wikipedia in a > "foreign" language, from the subscribers of this > list all the way up to the highest levels of > responsibility at the Wikimedia Foundation. A > simple way to state it might be: you guys have a > problem, you sort it out or don't bother us, and > we won't bother you. A lot of people will pay lip > service to the common good, but will not even > budge when they have a chance to do something > about it. Never underestimate the results of some > gentle persuasion, specially coming from those > who hold the keys to all the hardware that's > being used as a playground by a few. > > Please understand that a lot of people - really a > lot of very powerful people - don't give a hoot > about the Portuguese Wikipedia or any of its > problems, and since I have proof and I haven't > seen proof to the contrary anywhere, I rest my case. > > As for a believable plan of action at the risk of repeating myself: > > «Perhaps the question is not the creation of a > new version of Wikipedia, but to make the > Portuguese Wikipedia appealing to all readers and > writers (editors) of the Portuguese language. > There might be solutions and proposals to address > this problem which have been kept from seeing the > light of day, for untold reasons. > > It might be worthwhile to open a page where the > discussion could be centralized. It would be nice > if the page could be bilingual, with one section > in English, to open the discussion to the wider > Wikimedia community, and another in Portuguese, > for those who lack enough command of the English > language to participate in the broader discussion. > > If anyone would be so kind as to suggest what > that page might be and where it could be created, > I would be more than happy to participate.» > > All I have asked for is the suggestion of a page. > You can't find a single word about that request > in all that has been written. Not even: what if > that page is created and nobody contributes? That > is a possibility. There's also the possibility > that whatever conclusion is reached it will not > be implemented by those who hold the power in the > Portuguese Wikipedia or the keys in the Wikimedia > Foundation. There's also the possibility that if > someone had several million dollars to spare, any > solution that would please that person would be > implemented. So you see, most things can be had > for a price, and all I have asked was the > suggestion of a page. I wonder what it takes to have that. > > Sincerely, > > Virgilio A. P. Machado > > > At 17:14 23-03-2010, you wrote: >>Virgilio A. P. Machado wrote: >> >> > >> > I understand that the topic started with a suggestion to create "a >> > new version of Wikipedia in Portuguese from Portugal", but I can't >> > fail to notice that, for the wider Wikimedia community, avoiding to >> > address any of problems of the Portuguese Wikipedia, might be very >> > convenient to keep it where it is, mired in problems. We all have >> > problems of our own, right? Why bother? >> > >> >> >>While it may be true that not all contributors in this >>thread have written with perfect comprehension of >>the specific situation, I do think the above characterization >>of possible motivations is frankly beyond the pale. >> >>Please understand that nobody -- really nobody -- wishes >>for Portuguese Wikipedia to remain mired in problems. >> >>Personally I do believe that notwithstanding that, the >>best experts on how to heal the rifts within the Portuguese >>Wikipedia might not come from the outside. That is my >>personal view, lacking a believable plan of action for how >>the foundation or some other external part of the larger >>community could effect a healing action on the Portuguese >>community. >> >> >>Yours, >> >>Jussi-Ville Heiskanen >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>foundation-l mailing list >>foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > > > Prof. Virgilio A. P. Machado ...@fct.unl.pt > Engenharia > Industrial > http://web.archive.org/web/20070824105539/www.ipei.pt/GDEI/ > DEMI/FCT/UNL Fax: 351-21-294-8546 or 21-294-8531 > Universidade de Portugal or 351-21-295-4461 > 2829-516 Caparica Tel.: 351-21-294-8542 or 21-294-8567 > PORTUGAL or 351-21-294-8300 or 21 294-8500 > Ext.112-32 > 96-577-3726 > Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia/UNL (FCT/UNL) > > (Dr. Machado is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the > School of Sciences and Engineering/UNL of the University of Portugal) > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l >
It requires you to take initiative to start the page and try to draw others into a discussion. You don't need anyone's permission to do that. Also, I think it was (briefly) glossed over before, but there /is/ the Language Converter code in MediaWiki that could be leveraged to help some here. I don't think it's necessarily a magic bullet, but it's worth exploring. I know nothing in Portuguese, so I don't really grasp how widespread the discrepancies are, but I assume there's rules to describe them. Social solutions are also helpful, like the aforementioned American/British and Cyrillic/Latin issues mentioned earlier in the thread. A combination of social and technical solutions might just help bring some closure to this issue. -Chad _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
