Anybody who knows anything about Wikipedia is sick of the Durova mess. I thought the whole hoohah was about done, until I glanced at the voting on the ArbCom case. For some wild-blue-yonder reason (I suspect temporary insanity) new proposals were added to sanction Giano.
Sure, truthtellers often get the shaft, thanks to good ol' human nature. But this is taking human nature around several bends into literal craziness. Giano's entire offense was that he published Durova's ludicrous "evidence". He should be thanked for adding to the amusement of the world.
This is a deal-breaker for me. If Giano gets any kind of punishment, I'm gone from WP and I've said so on the arbitration talk page. My departure would go virtually unnoticed, of course. But why bother contributing to the project after one of its best members is punished for one of his best actions?
Which would also mean the end of this blog. It's an ill wind...
Fortunately or not, depending on your point of view about me and the blog, the punishment proposals look like they will be voted down.
UPDATE: It now looks like Giano will be punished for telling the truth. One more vote from an arb kicks him off the encyclopedia for three months. That means I'm gone, too. It was fun while it lasted. I will vote for Giano in the upcoming ArbCom elections, but I'll never edit the encyclopedia again.
SECOND UPDATE: ArbCom split 6-6 on punishing Giano. Two of the arbs voting to kick Giano were on the ridiculous sooper-sekrit wpinvestigations-l list, which pursued these laughable withhunts against other Wikipedia editors. It's reprehensible but sadly not surprising that these two arbitrators did not recuse themseves from the case.
Despite the split vote, I've still decided to quit Wikipedia. The level of paranoia in the project has risen so high that I'm not enthusiastic about contributing to the encyclopedia any more. And once enthusiasm ebbs away, it's pretty near impossible to restore. I'm eminently replaceable, and WP will do fine without me. So long.
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6 comments:
Oh Greaaat! I only discovered this entertaining and insightful lil blog a couple days ago and already you are thinking of shutting it down.
It's cause of my bad breath isn't it?!
Really, though, please don't shut down shop. As one of Giano's friends and supporters (or "enabler" as some have called me) I know he wouldn't want you to give up either.
On the contrary, situations such as this make blogs such as this one all the more important. They help to keep the world informed of the corruption and petty injustices and, if nothing else, give us a place to safely sound off. So please reconsider...but no matter what you decide, you are cordially invited to join us here:
http://community.livejournal.com/wp_fnord/profile
I'll even have a talk with "Da boss" and make you a moderator if you so desire. Ciao and best my friend, R.D.H. (Ghost In The Machine)
Just found this after I was looking around WP to see old friends like Giano. One of the few remaining who counts good quality editing over the civility and PC crap.
Actually, are there any remaining?
I am user:dbuckner, by the way
I hope you don't give up blogging about Wikipedia (whether or not you give up editing there), since your blog is very interesting reading.
The story on the Durova kerfuffle is now in the mainstream press with an in-depth exclusive in the UK Register, and spillover to the front page of Slashdot.
Secret mailing list rocks Wikipedia
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