On 8/5/2011 2:22 PM, Nathan wrote: > Beria, I don't think your views on transparency as stated mesh all > that well with the character of this list. I'd suspect the same is > true of the wider community of editors and donors; the assertion that > details be discussed in private is both improper and at distinct odds > with the history of the WMF. If chapters prefer that their actions not > be subject to the oversight of the WMF and Wikimedia community, then > they should do their own fundraising and develop their own trademarks. When it comes to the relationship between the Wikimedia Foundation and one of its chapters, I think it's understandable that much of that discussion happens directly between the foundation and the given chapter. That's no different than the kind of interaction people expect under any circumstances. It's just like an editor might want to receive the courtesy of being contacted personally, on their user talk page or via email, about a problem, rather than somebody going off to blast them on a mailing list. So at some point, I think the concepts of "in private" or "in public" are not really what anybody is aiming for, especially since they get used in such black-and-white terms that leave no flexibility for circumstances.
That being said, when it comes to discussing the guiding principles for things like fundraising, or the relationships between the foundation and chapters collectively, I do think it would be better to have more of that discussion open to the entire community. In terms of identifying the right forum for discussion, though, I'm not sure how much better this list really is, given that anecdotally its atmosphere has driven so many chapter people to resist subscribing. Honestly, I must say that it is a colossal disappointment to find that with all the posts I've seen both here and on internal-l, nobody has yet made a single edit to the talk page on Meta where the letter was posted. Doesn't anybody here know how to use a wiki? --Michael Snow _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
