[Wikitech-l] Showing article information on tap in Wikipedia mobile app (a thank you)
Hi! So I'm just going through the latest Wikimedia Foundation quarterly report, and I stumbled on a short passage that mentions a feature of the mobile Wikipedia app that I really, really enjoy using. The ability to view a link preview when clicking on an article link inside the app is just fantastic. Not only does it save time when you only need to quickly look up a fact, but the way that the app does it is elegant and fast. I'm using the alpha version of the app on an Android 5.1 smartphone, and the report says it's also in the beta version, but I do hope it will be added to the stable app too :-) So, to cut a long story short: a huge thank you and please-keep-it-up to the mobile team for implementing this handy little feature :-) -- Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Re: [Wikitech-l] Free fonts and Windows users
Jared Zimmerman writes: I'm tired of fighting over this, I'd like to move on, and moving on does not mean going on to the status quo. The status quo has been thoroughly tested by 400 million viewers a month, for 46 months (June 2010-March 2014; ); it is a flexible and elegant solution that leaves the choice of the exact font up to the reader's software, as already explained by Isarra. I'm tired of having https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/124475/ blocked for no good reason at all, when five people have already +1'd (how many other patches have you seen like that?). Steven has essentially said that we're /temporarily/ reverting to a setting that is know to work over his dead body; we don't need you to take the same approach, too. Or, alternatively, please do explain here why setting font-family to sans- serif is disruptive, sub-standard and generally not a bright idea. Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Re: [Wikitech-l] Free fonts and Windows users
Chad writes: This. Let's go back to what we *know* worked. https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/124387/ has already been merged, so you're /just/ late – unless you want to submit yet another patch reverting to sans- serif. Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
[Wikitech-l] Forget mailing lists and on-wiki discussions; Twitter's the place!
Hi! I was surprised to see that Twitter is now the preferred method of contacting the Wikimedia Foundation, and that it is much more effective than long disputes and discussions on mailing lists, Bugzilla and wiki pages. Indeed, it is so effective that it leads to the WMF clearly preferring un-free fonts over their free equivalents; something that, I believe, participants of this very mailing lists agreed /not/ to do. FYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=602800100. Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Re: [Wikitech-l] Forget mailing lists and on-wiki discussions; Twitter's the place!
Steven Walling writes: The idea that we're just responding to the bug based on one report via Twitter is untrue and absurd. You are responding to the bug based on reports that come from outside the Wikimedia universe — and to say otherwise is untrue and absurd in itself. You saw the feedback, Steven, with your own eyes, in January of this year: it was submitted by Wikipedian Patrick87 on January 8 at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Typography_refresh/Archive_2#Default_sys tem_fonts_should_be_given_preference_over_free_fonts_.28especially_on_Windows .29. You had almost three full months to deal with the problem, and yet you are only responding to it when people pointed it out to you on Twitter, Reddit, Quora, and wherever else. /If/ you value feedback from Wikipedians, why don't you act on it? Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
Re: [Wikitech-l] Forget mailing lists and on-wiki discussions; Twitter's the place!
Steven Walling writes: On the general point: you and others seem to be simultaneously angry that we tried a version without a freely-licensed font *and* that we have tried versions which did have FOSS fonts, but that had unexpected bugs for some Windows users. Which is it? Or is that you're just looking for an excuse to be mad and cause a fuss because we changed the typography at all? It sounds to me like it's the latter. You are clueless, kind sir, so let me get some things straight. 1. I am deeply uncomfortable with the fact that you are choosing un-free fonts over free ones. 2. I am deeply uncomfortable with the fact that you decided not to respect the consensus /not/ to choose non-free fonts — such as Arial and Helvetica — over free fonts; a discussion which I only read, but which, as far as I remember, saw participation from yourself, Quim, Greg, and some other people. As for your suggestion that I'm only looking to make a fuss, here's some basic facts for you to ponder. A. /I/ pointed it out to Greg and to you on IRC that deploying Typography Refresh to all wikis on the same day (March 28) was a bad idea, and that it would be better to roll it out with MediaWiki 1.23wmf21, as it would give time to inform the community (as well as to push some last-minute fixes). B. /I/ was the one who added information about Typography Refresh to the last two issues of Tech News, therefore delivering information about it to almost 250 individual subscribers and several community pages village pumps. Now, don't you think that if I wanted to make a fuss about the change: I. I would have supported your plan to deploy it to all wikis at the same time, so as to ensure maximum community drama, chaos and anger; II. I would have kept the community in the dark, to ensure even more drama vitriol coming your way? I'm used to you suggesting that I fabricate stuff, so if you want to think that I'm part of some bad faith conspiracy to mean you harm in this case, then that's fine; just keep in mind that other people might not be as welcoming. Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
[Wikitech-l] February '14 appreciation thread
Hi! In a shameless copy of Sumana's August 2012 idea, I'd like to send public thanks to some people who have helped me get some things done in the past few weeks/days: * Guillaume Paumier, for his overall amazingness and his help in creating and distributing the weekly Tech News bulletin; * Daniel Zahn (mutante) and Sam Reed (Reedy) for their help in getting my Gerrit patches reviewed merged (long overdue!); * Ariel Glenn (apergos) for triaging my latest RT ticket and for being so nice and understanding on a Sunday evening ;-) So, if you'd like to thank someone, now is a good time and opportunity to do so! Following Sumana's example, the rules are: be kind, thank someone, and say why you're thanking them. Tomasz ___ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l
