User talk:Jimbo Wales

Censorship at David S. Rohde, take II

Jimbo, are you still there? Another user and I've asked you some questions about the censorship incident... but you didn't answer. The discussion has been archived at the Village Pump, but I'm still waiting... Scared, Jimbo? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.224.141.215 (talk) 13:44, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

WP:Ageism

Hi Jimmy,

You've probably never seen me around before, but as you may already yourself now fully be aware, Juliancolton is up for bureaucratship right now, and one of the recurring themes among some of the opposers is that he's a minor. I'm curious to know a) what your personal views are towards WP:Ageism, and b) do you know of any legal issues with minors being bureaucrats (or do I need to go ask Mike on this)?

Thanks, Matt (talk) 06:40, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Best to ask Mike about any legal issues, but I wouldn't think that there are any. One of the reasons for the term "Bureaucrat" is that it's supposed to be a pretty dully technical position. :-) I don't think Bureaucrats have access to any private data, which might be the only issue, but again, best to ask Mike.

I strongly disagree with many points in WP:Ageism, and find it to be offensive in a great many ways and if I were to rewrite it, it would end up substantially different.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 19:31, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Would you have an opinion on WP:GEEZER? Durova²⁷⁵ 20:44, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Much more my style. :)--Jimbo Wales (talk) 22:36, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, to be fair, I believe they do have access to some private data with the advent of the bureaucrats' mailing list. –Juliancolton | ^Talk 18:09, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Sigh. I was hoping WP:Ageism would die of natural causes. I've emailed the main author. - Dank (push to talk) 21:43, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Agreed! I'd like to see it deleted personally; it seems rude. fr33kman ^-simpleWP- 21:22, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Jimbo, as the primary author of WP:ageism, I would be interested in finding out what you find offensive with the essay, because it is essentially very much in line with previous statements that you've made. I wish I could find the quote, but you are often quoted when you said that you felt that (paraphrased as best I can recall it) as a general rule you felt that admins should be in college, but that there are exceptions to this rule. This essay is nothing more than an extension of that.

The entire purpose of the essay is to point out why arguing over the issue of ageism is a waste of time. Don't waste people's time arguing about whether or not ageism is a valid reason. Instead focus on why, even if ageism is valid, that the individual candidate is the exception.

Finally, I should point out, that Julian the person who is running for 'crat, actually supported the essay. He initially wrote an essay to counter it, but via discussion and editing, he withdrew his objection and deleted his essay. The problem that Julian is having with Ageism, isn't that he is under 18, but rather that he has been an outspoken advocate of promoting underage admins. He is the admin that I quoted who compared Ageism to racism (and has also made similar statements comparing it to sexism). (Just a few months ago, we promoted another under aged admin to 'crat.)

Also, it should be noted, that I voted for Julian and have nominated several people who are underage, but whom I deemed exceptional. They key, as the essay discusses, is to focus on why the individual is the exception to the rule.---Balloonman ^{NO! I'm Spartacus!} 00:24, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

To save Balloonman looking, the quote in question is "There are people who behave in petulant, ill-mannered, and immature ways. They should not be admins. Whether there is a strong correlation between bad behavior of that kind, and age, I don't know. I do think that, in general, most of our admins should be college students or graduates. Some gifted and profoundly gifted young people would be equally qualified." – iridescent 00:51, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you.---Balloonman ^{NO! I'm Spartacus!} 01:00, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Problems with vandalism in Wikipédia Lusófona

I´m brasilian and i dont speak English very well, but i have a terrible problem and need a help. I do a article in wikipedia lusofona, and this user vandalize this article. I can´t revert cause i´m bloqued, but nobody revert this article. Why do i di? I´m desesperate, cause´ various administrators be do a cyberbuilling with me. Please, helpe-me.

Thank you very very very much.

Litrix Linuxer (talk) 15:57, 10 July 2009 (UTC)LitrixLinuxer

That's interesting. I see the vandalism in the page, but when I click to edit, I don't see it. I'm a little puzzled.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 22:34, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

It was probably template vandalism. --Carnildo (talk) 23:56, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Server trouble

Hi. I gather that the latest funding drive will pay for updating the server? I've been having terrible server trouble and it seems to have increased over the past few weeka. There is a discussion about it at village pump tech. As I type the globe has not even appeared in the left hand corner! Also are there no plans to update the front page, I think it looks a little dated. Dr. Blofeld ^{White cat} 20:31, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Original fair-use rationale

Hi Jimbo. I am wondering if you can kindly point me in the direction of the discussions that brought about the usage of fair-use images here on enWP? I'm a sysop on Simple English Wikipedia and I'm really interested in the rationale that was used to permit the upload and usage of non-free images here as there have been some efforts to get it going over at simpleWP. I understand that a lot was discussed on mailing lists initially but I don't know which or when. If you could even recall the rough time when it was discussed it'd help! I asked Angela but she said it was before her time here. Thanks in advance and feel free to drop by to simpleWP any time, even if it's just to say 'Hi!'!! :-) Yours, fr33kman ^-simpleWP- 21:20, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure where you might find the original discussions, probably on the mailing list?--Jimbo Wales (talk) 23:07, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! Any idea when roughly they happened? Being that you've been around so long and all (obviously) :) fr33kman ^-simpleWP- 23:41, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

I think it was simply always true that we had some fair use images, as well we should I think, although in quite limited circumstances. To be more clear, I don't think there has ever been a time when there was not a discussion somewhere in Wikipedia about when we should accept a fair use image, and when we should not.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 00:48, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay, thanks Jimmy! Take care. fr33kman ^-simpleWP- 00:52, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

re Kirill Lokshin

Good, you are around. Tell Kirill that he should reconsider - if you are to have these special powers then bloody use them to keep the really good people doing the job the community entrusted them with! Dammit, demand Kirill that he reconsider!!! LessHeard vanU (talk) 23:20, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Rlevse too! iMatthew ^talk at 23:23, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Yup! LessHeard vanU (talk) 23:31, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

I would also ask that these two resignations be not accepted. Both Kirill and Randy are exceptionally hardworking and the committee's work would be severely damaged if they went. Sam Blacketer (talk) 23:35, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

Seconded. A very significant loss. –Juliancolton | ^Talk 23:40, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

• For those who can offer total commitment to this project, occasional burnout is to be expected; it manifests in myriad ways, but wikibreak, even for arbitrators, should be recommended. I wouldn't want to lose contributors who have committed so much here. Rodhullandemu 00:01, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, yes, I hope that Kirill will reconsider and I'm not accepting his resignation anytime soon. But volunteers are volunteers, I can't actually draft people. :-) Working on ArbCom is a thankless task, and I don't think people realize how difficult and distressing it can be to work really hard to try to think of useful ways to move things forward and then to be attacked for it. In my experience of our current ArbCom, constructive criticism is gladly accepted always - it's unfortunate that some criticism comes in forms that are divisive and not really constructive.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 00:46, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

I assume you accidentally left Rlevse out of that first sentence, right? Just making sure that you're not accepting his resignation just yet. :) iMatthew ^talk at 01:52, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

• Adding my voice to the throng. KillerChihuahua^?!?Advice 01:55, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

• Adding myself too, if it's possible. If not, could you appoint four arbitrators to serve out the rest of Tranche Gamma? Mind you, seeing as the only two left in the tranche expire their terms in five months, maybe it's not really needed. Sceptre ^(talk) 02:04, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Jimbo, with respect, remember why you created arbcom. The page on the Committee currently describes them as "the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process." Arbcom does not, has not, and should not attempt to 'move things forward' for the community. It is the job of the community to progress, it is not for arbcom to force their (or some committee's) vision of progress upon the project. And of course as you said: "Unorganized committees with no set procedures are [bad], because there's no clear way to say what should be done." Prodego ^talk 02:14, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Prodego, I don't understand your point. ArbCom sensed a need for a more formal body to give them advice and recruited people to do that. I don't see why this has been interpreted in the way it has.--Jimbo Wales (talk) 16:44, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Oh, whatever, back to the point, Kirill and Rlevse were two of the good ones who had helped make this current Committee the most effective and credible one since I can remember. The problem is that currently the ArbCom stands as about the only real, formal governance body in Wikipedia. Thus, they are put in a position of leadership and authority and tried to take a small step to make progress in a discussion for improved governance for Wikipedia. As you know, change is the only constant, so the status quo is not going to continue to work. Cla68 (talk) 09:46, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Petition to Free Wikimapia

Howdy from WikiMapia, one of the map services that pops up when you click on coordinates in Wikipedia!

We are currently running a petition to release the software that we use under a Free Software license, and that all content we contribute be released under a Free creative license, so that we are working under the same terms as Wikipedia contributors.

This has resulted from extreme neglect of the users' needs by the closed Wikimapia Team (the two guys who started it), and spurred by the Free Software add-on that I created to work around Wikimapia's deficiencies. Many top contributors have already signed it.

I thought this is an unusual situation, and maybe you would be interested, or maybe offer some advice on how to increase our chance of success as this point.

Cheers,

--Specious (talk) 00:09, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

I think it would be a great idea. The ones who work on geography here have long thought wikimapia the best site for obtaining coordinates, particularly on smaller settlements and landmarks. I would like to see wikimapia taken under the wing of the wikimedia personally as it is the mapping project we are missing and of course it is aptly named as a sister project. I would very much like to see wikimapia adopted by wikimedia and to becoming a branch of our project. That would be awesome. It would seem to share our exact same goals, and if we could obtain the funding to run it through our donations we could free the site of google ads and make it part of our own. What I'd hate is for a site that well developed to close down because of neglect. Dr. Blofeld ^{White cat} 10:02, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Why not support projects which are genuinely 'free' like Open Street Map instead,

a project that Wikimedia is ALREADY in consultation with?

Wikimapia is at best a site with propriatery licensing. Furthermore the exact relationship between Wikimapia and the geo-data providers it uses was when I last checked seemed at best ambiguous. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 16:44, 12 July 2009 (UTC)