Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Danny 2

Danny

Voice your opinion (36/1/0); Scheduled to end 00:38, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Danny (talk · contribs)

It is my pleasure to nominate Danny for adminship on the English Wikipedia. For those of you who don't know, allow me to catch you up on some history. Danny was first directly appointed to the role of admin by Jimbo, and then later, in 2003, his adminship was confirmed by RFa election. He recently resigned his adminship upon resigning from official employment at the Foundation (where had been Grants Coordinator since 2005). He resigned his adminship (as well as stewardship) to prevent any perceived conflicts of interest following leaving employment at WMF. He hasn't yet revealed his reasons for resigning his role from the Foundation, but know that it has nothing whatsoever to do with any sort of disagreement with anything that Wikipedia itself stands for. He also has extensive experience working on Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, and the Hebrew Wikipedia. His work on Wikipedia more than stands on its own, even ignoring any contributions he made in official capacities.

Danny is not done with his work on Wikipedia, not by a long shot, and it would help him in his continued work for the project to gain adminship rights back. There isn't a single person in the entire world more familiar with Wikipedia than Danny. Whereas Jimbo has been more of an absentee God-king, Danny was in the office every day from 9-5 working on some of the trickiest issues that Wikipedia faces, and then would often log on after work and help write articles. He has an ungodly number of edits for anyone who cares about those kinds of things. He's also handled all sorts of behind-the-scenes stuff that few have ever heard about, but was vital all the same.

Danny has been making huge contributions to Wikipedia since before most current Wikipedians even ever heard about it. For instance, he wrote the original biography infoboxes and put them on all of the articles on US presidents. This was a harder task than it now seems, because neither templates nor wiki table syntax had even been coded yet, so Danny learned HTML and created all of those infoboxes from scratch. Most people with high edit counts have done a lot of counter-vandalism work; in contrast, Danny has done very little. Nearly all of his edits have been significant edits improving the quality of the encyclopedia. Danny's excellent judgment, skills, and unparalleled knowledge of Wikipedia make him the perfect administrator candidate.

Making Danny an administrator again is as obvious a decision as any we're liable to find on Wikipedia. Yes, Danny has been involved in some controversy, but that's utterly unavoidable when you consider how much time he spent working here and how many controversial situations his position required him to get involved in (for instance, almost every WP:OFFICE case). The qualification for adminship is simply "do we trust him?", and I can't think of anyone I would answer that question about more strongly in the affirmative for than someone who has been deeply involved with Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation for five years.

--Cyde Weys 00:38, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Candidate, please indicate acceptance of the nomination here:

I accept. Danny 01:08, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Questions for the candidate

Dear candidate, thank you for offering to serve Wikipedia in this capacity. Please take the time to answer a few generic questions to provide guidance for participants:

1. What sysop chores do you anticipate helping with?

A: I don't think there is a valid answer to this question because it limits the role of the sysop. I believe that a sysop is a janitor, a person who helps to clean up the site and keep it functioning. If I were asked, in an interview for a janitorial position, what tasks I anticipate, would I be exempt from any other tasks that needed doing? If I said I would clean up spills, I would still have to fix broken windows. So, I simply anticipate doing what needs to be done and is within the scope of my ability. Surprise me. Danny

2. Of your articles or contributions to Wikipedia, are there any with which you are particularly pleased, and why?

A: Five years. I am particularly pleased that I stuck it out for five years. I've seen lots of changes, lots of people come and go, I have had exhilirating moments and extremely frustrating moments, but I am still here. Of that I am proud. Danny

3. Have you been in any conflicts over editing in the past or have other users caused you stress? How have you dealt with it and how will you deal with it in the future?

A: You can't be involved with editing without being involved in conflict. You can't be involved in Wikipedia without seeing your blood pressure rise on occasion. And you can't have one single way to deal with each situation. Danny

General comments

• See Danny's edit summary usage with mathbot's tool. For the edit count, see the talk page.
• I will appreciate your support, and will understand your hesitation. Danny 01:08, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
• The January 2004 RfA.

---

Please keep criticism constructive and polite.

Discussion

• If things continue as Í think they will, this may be a good example for others that, once you become respected by the community and showed at least as much respect towards Wikipedia, you really need to mess everything bad, too bad, to lose that respect. No candidate would be able to pass a RfA with those replies but few, very few ones. -- ReyBrujo 01:42, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

• "How does this help Wikipedia?" That is something, without fail, Danny asks in each and every situation. In the few months I watched him work in the office Danny's first concern wasn't what people were saying, or who did what, or getting his face in the media. Danny's focus is on what helps the project most at that moment.

His ideas are always practical and solid. If Danny sees something that might work for Wikipedia as far as acquiring content or getting official endorsements from respected institutions or landing donations ... he will make it happen. He doesn't waste time generating massive discussion pages or disputing minor issues.

Most people help the project either by being contributors or by performing services (working at the office/networking/hardware/legal issues/donations/etc.). Danny is one of the few people that does both. I once watched him spend 12 hours answering phones, meeting with donors, giving projects to idle volunteers, solving travel problems, and a few other things I can't remember. He then went home and translated four Wikipedia pages into Hebrew.

Danny Wool is one of the project's greatest allies, and it would only suffer without his help administrating it.

Support

1. Oppose - Candidate's failure to sign acceptance displays insufficient experience with Wikipedia :) - David Oberst 01:07, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
2. Support of course. Jkelly 01:09, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
3. Support. Jkelly kinda took the words out of my mouth. —bbatsell ¿? ✍ 01:18, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
4. Support fabulous guy. Fabulous admin. Mak (talk) 01:19, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
5. WP:300 Support Viridae^Talk 01:20, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
6. Support. "No reason not to" does not to Danny justice. "The most qualified candidate ever" might. --Deskana (ya rly) 01:21, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
7. But of course. Picaroon 01:22, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
8. Support-Usually I'd give a reason but none is needed for Danny. :) --TeckWiz ^ParlateContribs_@(Lets go Yankees!) 01:24, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
9. Support - Danny cares, he really gives a crap, and he knows what he is doing. While some of us admins back off from certain controversial situations, Danny with his berserker helmet and his battle axe charged onto the battlefield of issues and stabbed them in the crotch. As Wikimedia Officer he had to be on the phone with people (some acting rather naughty) and Danny dealt with them. Even while having a Foundation job, he fought spam (by setting it on fire), and, get this, IMPROVED ARTICLES. He also donated cash-money towards the cause of improving Wikipedia through his contests and, after three billion years of being a Wikipedian, he still cares. If you have a problem, he will be able to deal with it, battle axe in right hand, giant shield in left, and he will proceed to stab it in the crotch. He will definitely be a competant admin. —Signed, your friendly neighborhood MessedRocker. 01:27, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
10. Support. RfA is about trust and Danny is certainly trustworthy. --PS2pcGAMER (talk) 01:29, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
11. Support for a second I wondered: "is this the Danny?" - Anas ^talk? 01:30, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
12. Support. Yes, I know it's surprising. — Malcolm^{Use the schwartz!} 01:34, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
13. As I stated in the talk page, I would consider this unnecessary. However, if you plan on breaking Phaedriel's record, be my guest :-) Always remembering that adminship is not a prize, Danny has been very respectful in his position at the office, and unless someone is able to point to a serious abuse, I must support him. -- ReyBrujo 01:38, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
14. Support - Well, it is Danny. What's not to trust. User has shown sufficient knowledge, and prior excellent use of his tools. --theblueflamingo^Squawk 01:42, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
15. Support.--ragesoss 01:44, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
16. Quite simply, Danny is an integral part of Wikipedia. --Slowking Man 01:44, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
17. Very much. — Dan | talk 01:45, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
18. Support - It is good to see someone who sets a continual example of the right way to approach WikiPedia!--Lmcelhiney 01:49, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
19. Support. Most qualified candidate ever.--§hanel 01:50, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
20. (edit conflicted twice) Support - Completely without question. This is one of Wikipedia's most dedicated editors, and we will benefit greatly from him being a sysop (again) --Michael Billington (talk) 01:51, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
21. Edit-conflicted support, obviously. My one very small gripe is I didn't like the way you jumped in and closed this debacle after not previously being that involved in RfA, if I remember correctly. But it's really not too big of a deal, especially now... Grandmasterka 01:53, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
22. Support, a proven track record demonstrating some of the best qualities in a Wikipedian. - CHAIRBOY (☎) 01:57, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
23. Support Lkinkade 01:59, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
24. Support. Danny's enthusiasm for the work we do here is endless, contagious, and inspiring. --Robth^Talk 02:01, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
25. Belated April Fools' oppose. Because you deserve it. – Chacor 02:02, 3 April 2007 (UTC) (Yes, this is meant to be a support.)
26. Support. When I saw this go up I knew I'd have to get my support in quick before the pile-on made additional supports look silly. I wanted to throw out a little fun trivial, as all know.. Danny is a high edit count user... we have quite a few people with high counts, but for most of them a substantial portion of their edits are semi-automated vandalism reverts. Not Danny, only 1.5% of his edits are obvious reverts. For comparison, User:SimonP is 6.7% obvious reverts... and many of the users with 20K plus edits are in the 50% range. --Gmaxwell 02:10, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
27. Support. · j e r s y k o talk · 02:21, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
28. Support See discussion above. ~~ Atshields0
29. Support per all the comments everyone else has made. Captain panda In vino veritas 02:24, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
30. Support per above. bibliomaniac15 02:24, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
31. Of course. John Reaves (talk) 02:31, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
32. Cleared for Adminship This one's a no-brainer. —Pilotguy cleared for takeoff 02:34, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
33. Known sockpuppet (ab)user ;) quod erat supportum. — Feezo (Talk) 02:41, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
34. Support as PilotGuy said, a no brainer.↔NMajdan•talk 02:44, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
35. I've not always seen eye to eye with Danny. He once even called me a vandal in a copyright dispute (before later apologizing and admitting I was right). I am among the small minority of people who is somewhat glad to see him step down from the right hand of God, and relinquish his OFFICE role. But despite any qualms I might have had about his performance in that role, I certainly believe he means well, and fully endorse giving him back the admin bit. He is a value to the project and this is no big deal. Dragons flight 02:45, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
36. Support. Michael 03:09, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Oppose

1. Oppose. I am very well aware of the immense amount of good work Danny has done for the project, both as an editor and in his position at WP:OFFICE. I did not agree with some of his promotions as a bureaucrat, but those were not big things and not relevant now. I regretfully have to oppose however per Danny's low usage of edit summaries, currently at 25% for major edits and 49% for minor edits. Yes I know that more edit summaries don't make a better admin, and I am fully aware that Danny has been a very busy guy at WP:OFFICE. However, the fact stands that edit summaries help others understand what you changed. Edit summaries are way of showing curtsey to other editors and a sign that you care about their time no less than about your own time. Danny will pass with or without my vote, and he fully deserves that. However, hereby I would like to ask Danny to use more edit summaries when he contributes. I will gladly remove my vote should Danny mention that he will try that, and/or if he changes his preferences so that he is warned when an edit is submitted without a summary. Thank you. Oleg Alexandrov (talk) 03:06, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

When I started editing, very few people ever filled in edit summaries, and I admit, I never got into the habit. I should have. I try to, but I often forget. On the other hand, I was just told that there is a box I can check in the preferences that will make me fill in the summaries. I will check that to help me remember. Danny 03:14, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Neutral