Hi, could someone perhaps explain why the board delegated closing policy to *individual language committee members*? Because as I read it, this advice to the board is given by one individual, even if the rest of the committee disagrees (there is a two week discussion but in the end it is a one-person-call). Also, I do not understand why the *language* committee has a role in this in the first place. Is closing projects often about whether or not it actually is a language (the expertise field of langcom)?
Lodewijk 2011/6/25 Milos Rancic <mill...@gmail.com> > Board has decided to make Closing projects [1] official. The text of the > policy is below (as well as at the mentioned page). > > Language committee members who decided to take care about this would be > listed inside of the section "Tasks" of the members list [2]. During the > next weeks present requests will be normalized after the discussion at > the LangCom list. > > [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Closing_projects_policy > [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Language_committee/Members > > * * * > > This policy proposal defines the process to close (and in some > situations delete) a wiki hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. The > proposals are handled by [[Language Committee]] members who opt-in to > take care of this, and the [[Board of Trustees]] has final authority > over the member's decision. > > ==Problem situation and new authority== > The current [[Proposals for closing projects]] lack a clear policy. > Several proposals have been made for a policy, but so far none has been > adopted. > > Because of that, a lot of small inactive wikis are proposed to be > closed. Some people support out of principle ("wiki is inactive"), while > others oppose out of principle ("let it grow"). Often, users came by and > made a decision, which could even be the opposite of the actual consensus. > > This policy tries to address this problem by: > * requiring a valid reason for closure, and defining several reasons as > either valid or invalid reasons > * putting the procedure in hands of language committee members and final > Board decision > > The community has no longer authority over closing projects, but only an > advising task. This puts the procedure in line with the [[language > proposal policy]], which is also dependent on language committee and > Board approval. That means closing projects is no longer easier than > opening one. > > Although the decision is made by a member of the Language Committee and > no longer through community consensus, the Board will have final > authority, and the LangCom is convinced that this procedure will improve > the decision-making and that both the LangCom and the Board are the > appropriate authority for dealing with closing Wikimedia wikis. > > ==Policy proposal== > > ===Types of proposals=== > In order to distinguish routine situations from potentially more complex > or unusual ones, projects that are proposed to be deleted are classified > as one of two types: > # Regular language editions that are small/inactive but do not generally > harm to stay open (automatic spam is always blocked, contrary to the past). > #: ''For example: Afar Wiktionary, Gaeilge Wikiquote, Guarani Wikibooks, > ...'' > # Other (often relatively more active) wikis that may be controversial, > questionable or in another way uncommon. > #: ''For example: Quality Wikimedia, Simple English Wikiquote, ...'' > > ===Definition of actions=== > * Closing a wiki means locking the database so it cannot be edited but > all pages are still visible to public. User rights (sysop, ...) are > removed and can be restored on user request when the wiki is re-activated. > * Deleting a wiki means deleting the database so it is completely > unavailable on the web. An XML file with the wiki's content will still > be available for external use. > * Transferring or importing content means moving useful articles/pages, > along with the contribution history, to the [[Wikimedia Incubator]], > [[oldwikisource:|OldWikisource]] or [[betawikiversity:|BetaWikiversity]] > (or another site when explicitly mentioned). <small>See > [[incubator:I:Importing]] for more info.</small> > ** Files are left on the wiki because of a lack of an export function. > When the wiki will be deleted, files could be downloaded manually if > needed. <small>When such a software feature becomes available, files > should be exported.</small> > > ===Proposing=== > Anyone can propose to close a wiki. The following must be done: > * The proposal must be categorised under either type 1 or type 2 (see > above). > * If you want the wiki to be deleted as well, that must be explicitly > mentioned in the proposal. > * When the proposal is submitted, the local wiki should be informed as > soon as possible. > * A good reason should be given why it should be closed/deleted. > ** Inactivity in itself is ''no'' valid reason; additional problems are. > When the Wikimedia Incubator is at a stage where it is usable to a > certain extent like a real wiki<ref>In the future, the Wikimedia > Incubator is intended to function as a place for normal wikis that are > not large enough to need an own wiki (so we don't have a large number of > small wikis but instead a normal Incubator wiki with "virtual > wikis").</ref>, inactivity will be a valid reason. > ** Absence of content since the wiki's creation is a valid reason > (usually for type 1). > ** Not meeting the current [[WM:LPP]] requirements is ''no'' valid reason. > > ===Decision=== > * During a period of 30 <small>(''can be changed'')</small> days, the > proposal is public to the community for comments and recommendations. > * Any Language Committee member who has opted-in to take care of > handling closing projects proposals can bring up the proposal on the > mailing list. It is discussed during 15 days (or longer if needed), > without formal voting. > * Thereafter, the initial LangCom member makes a decision and sends its > recommendation to the [[Board]] which has final authority. > > ===Proposal approved=== > * For the first type of proposal, useful content should be transferred > to the Incubator. Whether content is useful is hard to define, but > common sense can help. For the second type, a different solution for the > content is often appropriate. > * A bug should be submitted to Bugzilla to request the closure (and > deletion if applicable). > * Re-opening projects is done through [[requests for new languages]], > which uses the [[Meta:Language proposal policy]] that is much more > strict than used to be in the past (when most wikis that are now > proposed for closure, were started) > > ===Proposal rejected=== > * The wiki remains open. > * A new proposal may be submitted if there are new conditions. A > proposal that is exactly the same, may not be made the same year to > reduce unneeded duplicate proposals. > > ==Retroactivity== > As has been done when the Langcom policy was introduced, all current > proposals will be made invalid. Anyone can start a new proposal under > the new policy. > > ==References== > <references /> > > ==Links== > * http://noc.wikimedia.org/conf/closed.dblist – automatic list of > currently closed wikis > * [[bugzilla:28985|Bug 28985]] – Wikis ready for closing (tracking) > * Previous proposals > ** [[Closure of WMF projects]] (August 2008 proposal) > ** [[Closing/Deletion project policy]] (2006 proposal) > * Other > ** [[Proposals for closing projects]] > ** [[Proposals for closing projects/General discussion about small, > inactive wikis]] > ** [[Requests for comment/Rights and closed wikis]] > > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l