Andreas, > It's important to understand that Jimmy Wales didn't accomplish the things you speak of alone.
Yes, I'm aware of this. Perhaps I should have been more clear. I was pointing to the fact that Jimmy did not mess it up. I don't ever underestimate that. Jimmy could have not allowed that to happen, he could have charged money, he could have done a lot of other things, and he did not. He did not mess it up and that is really saying something. Warmly, /a On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 6:16 PM, Andreas Kolbe <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 8:44 PM, Anna Stillwell <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Jimmy, > > > > I have a ridiculous amount of respect for you and what you have > > accomplished. I have watched from afar (I was living a lot in other > > countries) as this radical experiment in trust *exploded* on to the > world. > > It blew my mind. And some of the early rules that were set were nothing > > short of genius (e.g. NPOV, AGF and due weight come to mind). It was an > > ideal experiment: an open frontier with simple, limited rule sets. And > the > > icing on the cake is that "citation needed" ended up not just influencing > > how I thought about an encyclopedic text, but how I thought about > > discussing ideas. > > > > Anna, > > Hold on just a moment. :) > > It's important to understand that Jimmy Wales didn't accomplish the things > you speak of alone. > > First of all, the person who originally had the idea for Wikipedia was > Larry Sanger.[1] Jimmy Wales reportedly thought at the time people would > find the idea of an encyclopedia anyone can edit "objectionable".[2] > > But he let Sanger try it. That it "took off" was a surprise to everyone at > the time! > > Sanger coined the name "Wikipedia"[3] and invited the first > contributors.[4] Sanger wrote Nupedia's Non-bias policy, the precursor to > NPOV, but Jimmy Wales made important input to the NPOV policy later on, in > particular the "due weight" principle.[5] > > Sanger was Wikipedia's editor-in-chief in its early days, and had far more > hands-on involvement in guiding the development of the project in its > childhood. (Jimmy Wales made just 21 edits to Wikipedia in the year 2002, > according to his edit history, while Sanger made hundreds.) > > "Assume good faith" was created by Morwen in March 2004. I'm not aware that > Jimmy Wales had any role in its creation (he was hardly around on-wiki in > the months prior to March 2004). > > So let's not forget that Wikipedia has always been the work of many people. > :) That includes its fundamental policies. > > > > > So it is from that genuine respect base that I disagree with you on this > > particular point: > > > > "> I would love to know whether you supported Lila Tretikov's departure. > It > > is > > > clear that she did not up and resign on her own, and I would like to > know > > > if you were one of the folks who thought her departure would be > > beneficial, > > > or if you preferred she "weather the storm," so to speak. > > > > I supported it with sadness. The whole thing is a sad train wreck." > > > > I do not think this is a train wreck. I think this is one of the hottest > > moments since this genius encyclopedia exploded onto the world. > > > > People are engaged. > > > > > Here I wholeheartedly agree with you. :) One of the best things to have > come out of this is that there are bonds between volunteers and staff that > have never been there before. These are exciting times. > > Best, > Andreas > > [1] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2001-October/000671.html > [2] > > http://web.archive.org/web/20030414014355/http://www.nupedia.com/pipermail/nupedia-l/2001-January/000676.html > [3] > > http://web.archive.org/web/20030414021138/http://www.nupedia.com/pipermail/nupedia-l/2001-January/000680.html > [4] > > http://web.archive.org/web/20010506042824/www.nupedia.com/pipermail/nupedia-l/2001-January/000684.html > [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#History > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > -- Anna Stillwell Major Gifts Officer Wikimedia Foundation 415.806.1536 *www.wikimediafoundation.org <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>* _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
