Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Mickey Conn]

I am very interested to see the discussion on the representation of
minority languages.  The last board meeting agreed a text to go out to
Wikimedia projects in other languages used in the UK
(http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_v2.0/Languages) and I
have now started making contact (initially with minority languages
native to the UK, but I also plan to contact projects in other
languages widely used in the UK.

With luck, we will receive some interest and be able to open a
discussion with participants in these projects on what sort of
relationship they would like with Wikimedia UK, and what formal
structures, if any, we should be looking at putting in place.

Best Wishes
Mickey Conn

On Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 10:42 PM, Michael Peel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> What advantage is there to requiring minority languages to be
> represented on the board? I would be very surprised if that were
> required to obtain funds to support minority languages (although
> obviously we would need a way to carry out that support...). As and
> when we have members who speak minority languages, and if they want
> to be on the board, why should they not go through the standard
> process? What would we do if we did have reserved seats but no-one to
> fill them?
>
> I can understand positive bias to counteract a negative one, but I
> don't agree with it - either way, it's still a bias.
>
> Also, we are far from being a Wikipedia/Wikimedia London at present,
> and I would be very surprised if we ever turned into that.
>
> Mike
>
> On 29 Nov 2008, at 21:54, Andrew Turvey wrote:
>
>> michael west said:
>>
>> >> A board seat for a representative of indigenous non English
>> speakers would I presume only represent a member of the Celtic
>> language speakers. The facts are that non-indigenous people who
>> contribute to the WMF who speak languages at home or in prayer
>> outweigh those whose languages are official languages of the UK. It
>> just seems bizarre.
>>
>> The reason why I think Wikimedia UK should focus more on, say,
>> Sottish Gaelic with its 50,000 speakers than, say German, with its
>> 500,000 speakers in the UK, is that we already have a German
>> chapter which can promote German language projects. We are the only
>> chapter which could ever promote Scottish Gaelic, and, as I said
>> before, we may be able to unlock public funds in order to do so. I
>> don't remotely agree that this is racist.
>>
>> There is clearly a danger that Wikimedia UK will end up just being
>> Wikipedia London; recognising the diversity of UK Wikimedians -
>> across projects, languages and the constituent countries, would I
>> think be a positive step.
>>
>> My suggestion of 2 had in mind a board of around seven. Of course
>> it would be fewer if there were fewer board seats.
>>
>> From: Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Sent: Saturday, 29 November, 2008 0:40:35
>> Subject: Re: Election Rules (non-english speakers)
>>
>> Q5: Is there any way that you think the election should be run
>> differently to the election of the interim Board?
>>
>> I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion
>> regarding minority languages.
>>
>> Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the
>> english Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller
>> Wikimedia languages where UK editors form a vital part of the
>> editing and readorship base. I'm thinking particularly of the
>> native languages of the UK such as Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and maybe
>> Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.
>>
>> As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community,
>> there are also significant public funds available for promoting
>> these languages which could be used by us to support these projects.
>>
>> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if
>> the newsletter could be translated into these languages. My
>> suggestion is we set aside two reserved seats on the Board for
>> people who actively contribute to at lease one wikimedia project in
>> a minority language of the UK.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>>
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>
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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Michael Bimmler]

On Sat, Nov 29, 2008 at 11:57 PM, Thomas Dalton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>> Here, here.
>>
>> This *was* iphone's auto spelling correct. Really. Or so I hope. Ouch.
>
> I'm not buying it, "hear" has been in every dictionary I've ever seen! ;)

See, that shows that you don't use an iPhone.  While it has many nice
features, it does have the tendency to replace correct words either by
other correct words (as here) or, even worse and at least when writing
in German, it replaces correct words with completely unintelligible
babble.

So I uphold my non-guilty plea, but maybe this is getting a bit off-topic...

Michael



-- 
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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[James Farrar]

2008/11/29 Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:

> I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion regarding
> minority languages.
>
> Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the english
> Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller Wikimedia
> languages where UK editors form a vital part of the editing and readorship
> base. I'm thinking particularly of the native languages of the UK such as
> Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and maybe Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.
>
> As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community, there are
> also significant public funds available for promoting these languages which
> could be used by us to support these projects.
>
> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the
> newsletter could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we set
> aside two reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute to
> at lease one wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.

I don't like it - the number of reserved seats (even if it's only one)
would be way out of proportion to the number of contributors that are
out there.

I'd be much happier with the idea that if only the English language
happens to be represented after a round of elections, then the Board
could co-opt a minority language speaker (and if such a person is
elected in the normal scheme of things, than it doesn't need to).


[Trying to contribute here more - but my life is too chaotic!]

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Thomas Dalton]

2008/11/29 Michael Peel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> What advantage is there to requiring minority languages to be
> represented on the board? I would be very surprised if that were
> required to obtain funds to support minority languages (although
> obviously we would need a way to carry out that support...). As and
> when we have members who speak minority languages, and if they want
> to be on the board, why should they not go through the standard
> process? What would we do if we did have reserved seats but no-one to
> fill them?
>
> I can understand positive bias to counteract a negative one, but I
> don't agree with it - either way, it's still a bias.
>
> Also, we are far from being a Wikipedia/Wikimedia London at present,
> and I would be very surprised if we ever turned into that.

I would tend to agree. I think the other options for supporting
minority groups are better. But, by all means, propose a motion for
the AGM and we can vote on it.

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Thomas Dalton]

>> Here, here.
>
> This *was* iphone's auto spelling correct. Really. Or so I hope. Ouch.

I'm not buying it, "hear" has been in every dictionary I've ever seen! ;)

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[mbimmler]

On 11/29/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On 11/29/08, Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> michael west said:
>>
 A board seat for a representative of indigenous non English speakers
 would Ipresume only represent a member of the Celtic language speakers.
 The facts are that non-indigenous people who contribute to the WMF who
 speak languagesat home or in prayer outweigh those whose languages are
 official languages of the UK. It just seems bizarre.
>>
>> The reason why I think Wikimedia UK should focus more on, say, Sottish
>> Gaelic with its 50,000 speakers than, say German, with its 500,000
>> speakers
>> in the UK, is that we already have a German chapter which can promote
>> German
>> language projects.
>
> Here, here.

This *was* iphone's auto spelling correct. Really. Or so I hope. Ouch.

>I'm not saying that you should turn away or 'forward'
> German-speaking UK residents, for obviously if I move to the UK (which
> is not altogether unlikely and depends on 3*20 minutes in
> mid-december), I'd join and participate in the UK chapter as well, it
> being not viable to go to Switzerland for many chapter
> events/projects.
>
> However, it is unreasonable for the UK chapter to publish, say,
> leaflets about Wikipedia in German, there being three chapters who can
> and should do this. Same for French, Italian etc.
>
> Michael
>
>>We are the only chapter which could ever promote Scottish
>> Gaelic, and, as I said before, we may be able to unlock public funds in
>> order to do so. I don't remotely agree that this is racist.
>>
>> There is clearly a danger that Wikimedia UK will end up just being
>> Wikipedia
>> London; recognising the diversity of UK Wikimedians - across projects,
>> languages and the constituent countries, would I think be a positive step.
>>
>> My suggestion of 2 had in mind a board of around seven. Of course it would
>> be fewer if there were fewer board seats.
>>
>>
>> From: Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org
>> Sent: Saturday, 29 November, 2008 0:40:35
>> Subject: Re: Election Rules (non-english speakers)
>>
>>
>> Q5: Is there any way that you think the election should be run differently
>> to the election of the interim Board?
>>
>> I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion regarding
>> minority languages.
>>
>> Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the english
>> Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller Wikimedia
>> languages where UK editors form a vital part of the editing and readorship
>> base. I'm thinking particularly of the native languages of the UK such as
>> Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and maybe Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.
>>
>> As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community, there are
>> also significant public funds available for promoting these languages
>> which
>> could be used by us to support these projects.
>>
>> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the
>> newsletter could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we
>> set
>> aside two reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute
>> to
>> at lease one wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Michael Bimmler
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>


-- 
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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[mbimmler]

On 11/29/08, Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> michael west said:
>
>>> A board seat for a representative of indigenous non English speakers
>>> would Ipresume only represent a member of the Celtic language speakers.
>>> The facts are that non-indigenous people who contribute to the WMF who
>>> speak languagesat home or in prayer outweigh those whose languages are
>>> official languages of the UK. It just seems bizarre.
>
> The reason why I think Wikimedia UK should focus more on, say, Sottish
> Gaelic with its 50,000 speakers than, say German, with its 500,000 speakers
> in the UK, is that we already have a German chapter which can promote German
> language projects.

Here, here. I'm not saying that you should turn away or 'forward'
German-speaking UK residents, for obviously if I move to the UK (which
is not altogether unlikely and depends on 3*20 minutes in
mid-december), I'd join and participate in the UK chapter as well, it
being not viable to go to Switzerland for many chapter
events/projects.

However, it is unreasonable for the UK chapter to publish, say,
leaflets about Wikipedia in German, there being three chapters who can
and should do this. Same for French, Italian etc.

Michael

>We are the only chapter which could ever promote Scottish
> Gaelic, and, as I said before, we may be able to unlock public funds in
> order to do so. I don't remotely agree that this is racist.
>
> There is clearly a danger that Wikimedia UK will end up just being Wikipedia
> London; recognising the diversity of UK Wikimedians - across projects,
> languages and the constituent countries, would I think be a positive step.
>
> My suggestion of 2 had in mind a board of around seven. Of course it would
> be fewer if there were fewer board seats.
>
>
> From: Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Sent: Saturday, 29 November, 2008 0:40:35
> Subject: Re: Election Rules (non-english speakers)
>
>
> Q5: Is there any way that you think the election should be run differently
> to the election of the interim Board?
>
> I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion regarding
> minority languages.
>
> Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the english
> Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller Wikimedia
> languages where UK editors form a vital part of the editing and readorship
> base. I'm thinking particularly of the native languages of the UK such as
> Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and maybe Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.
>
> As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community, there are
> also significant public funds available for promoting these languages which
> could be used by us to support these projects.
>
> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the
> newsletter could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we set
> aside two reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute to
> at lease one wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.
>
> What do you think?
>
>
>


-- 
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Michael Peel]

What advantage is there to requiring minority languages to be  
represented on the board? I would be very surprised if that were  
required to obtain funds to support minority languages (although  
obviously we would need a way to carry out that support...). As and  
when we have members who speak minority languages, and if they want  
to be on the board, why should they not go through the standard  
process? What would we do if we did have reserved seats but no-one to  
fill them?

I can understand positive bias to counteract a negative one, but I  
don't agree with it - either way, it's still a bias.

Also, we are far from being a Wikipedia/Wikimedia London at present,  
and I would be very surprised if we ever turned into that.

Mike

On 29 Nov 2008, at 21:54, Andrew Turvey wrote:

> michael west said:
>
> >> A board seat for a representative of indigenous non English  
> speakers would I presume only represent a member of the Celtic  
> language speakers. The facts are that non-indigenous people who  
> contribute to the WMF who speak languages at home or in prayer  
> outweigh those whose languages are official languages of the UK. It  
> just seems bizarre.
>
> The reason why I think Wikimedia UK should focus more on, say,  
> Sottish Gaelic with its 50,000 speakers than, say German, with its  
> 500,000 speakers in the UK, is that we already have a German  
> chapter which can promote German language projects. We are the only  
> chapter which could ever promote Scottish Gaelic, and, as I said  
> before, we may be able to unlock public funds in order to do so. I  
> don't remotely agree that this is racist.
>
> There is clearly a danger that Wikimedia UK will end up just being  
> Wikipedia London; recognising the diversity of UK Wikimedians -  
> across projects, languages and the constituent countries, would I  
> think be a positive step.
>
> My suggestion of 2 had in mind a board of around seven. Of course  
> it would be fewer if there were fewer board seats.
>
> From: Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Sent: Saturday, 29 November, 2008 0:40:35
> Subject: Re: Election Rules (non-english speakers)
>
> Q5: Is there any way that you think the election should be run  
> differently to the election of the interim Board?
>
> I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion  
> regarding minority languages.
>
> Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the  
> english Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller  
> Wikimedia languages where UK editors form a vital part of the  
> editing and readorship base. I'm thinking particularly of the  
> native languages of the UK such as Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and maybe  
> Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.
>
> As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community,  
> there are also significant public funds available for promoting  
> these languages which could be used by us to support these projects.
>
> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if  
> the newsletter could be translated into these languages. My  
> suggestion is we set aside two reserved seats on the Board for  
> people who actively contribute to at lease one wikimedia project in  
> a minority language of the UK.
>
> What do you think?
>
>
> ___
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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Andrew Turvey]

michael west said:

>> A board seat for a representative of indigenous non English speakers would 
>> Ipresume only represent a member of the Celtic language speakers. The facts 
>> are that non-indigenous people who contribute to the WMF who speak 
>> languagesat home or in prayer outweigh those whose languages are official 
>> languages of the UK. It just seems bizarre.

The reason why I think Wikimedia UK should focus more on, say, Sottish Gaelic 
with its 50,000 speakers than, say German, with its 500,000 speakers in the UK, 
is that we already have a German chapter which can promote German language 
projects. We are the only chapter which could ever promote Scottish Gaelic, 
and, as I said before, we may be able to unlock public funds in order to do so. 
I don't remotely agree that this is racist.

There is clearly a danger that Wikimedia UK will end up just being Wikipedia 
London; recognising the diversity of UK Wikimedians - across projects, 
languages and the constituent countries, would I think be a positive step.

My suggestion of 2 had in mind a board of around seven. Of course it would be 
fewer if there were fewer board seats.


From: Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Saturday, 29 November, 2008 0:40:35
Subject: Re: Election Rules (non-english speakers)


Q5: Is there any way that you think the election should be run differently to 
the election of the interim Board?

I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion regarding 
minority languages.

Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the english 
Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller Wikimedia languages 
where UK editors form a vital part of the editing and readorship base. I'm 
thinking particularly of the native languages of the UK such as Welsh, Scottish 
Gaelic and maybe Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.

As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community, there are also 
significant public funds available for promoting these languages which could be 
used by us to support these projects.

The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the newsletter 
could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we set aside two 
reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute to at lease one 
wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.

What do you think?


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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[michael west]

2008/11/29 Thomas Dalton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

> >  It reminds me of the incredible voting
> > system in Pakistan where non muslims are allowed to select a number of
> seats
> > for the national assembly
>
> Does that make any less sense than determining constituencies purely
> by geography?
>
>
Actually it does, the National Assembly of Pakistan (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_National_Assembly ) is essentially
based on the UK Parliamentary system of constituencies. Muslims voted in
constituencies, non muslims voted for a number of seats Hindu, Singh,
Ahmedi, Christian etc outside of constituency boundary.

A board seat for a representative of indigenous non English speakers would I
presume only represent a member of the Celtic language speakers. The facts
are that non-indigenous people who contribute to the WMF who speak languages
at home or in prayer outweigh those whose languages are officail languages
of the UK. It just seems bizarre.

m
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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Thomas Dalton]

>  It reminds me of the incredible voting
> system in Pakistan where non muslims are allowed to select a number of seats
> for the national assembly

Does that make any less sense than determining constituencies purely
by geography?

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[geni]

2008/11/29 Andrew Turvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the english
> Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller Wikimedia
> languages where UK editors form a vital part of the editing and readorship
> base. I'm thinking particularly of the native languages of the UK such as
> Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and maybe Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.

So far the response has been minimal.




> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the
> newsletter could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we set
> aside two reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute to
> at lease one wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.
>
> What do you think?

No. There are far more editors to the English wikipedia than other
projects and that should be accepted rather than discriminated
against.

In any case last I checked not even cy.wikipedia had an EDP (although
to be fair they had at least talked about it) which gives you some
idea of the size of the community on those projects.

-- 
geni

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Al Tally]

2008/11/29 michael west <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

> What languages are spoken in the United Kingdom?
>
>
>  Afrikaans  and 
> Dutch Approximately
> 400,000
> South African-British and 
> Dutch
> British 
> Arabic  Up to 700,000
> British Arab  - British 
> Iranian,
> British Iraqi , British
> Moroccans , British 
> Yemeni
> Bengali  (standard Bangla) Over
> 300,000
> British Asian  - Bangladeshis
> (1st language 5%) and Indians  
> Cantonese
>
> British Chinese   Various 
> Caribbean
> languages
>
> British 
> Caribbeans
> French  Approximately over 1
> million
> French 
> Britons
> German  545,000 0.9% British
> Germans   
> Greek Up
> to 200,000 fluent or conversational 0.34% Greek 
> Britons  Hebrew
> & Yiddish  Up to 100,000
> fluent or conversational
> British Jews  and Israeli
> British   
> Gujarati
>
> British Asians  - Indians
> Hindi 
>
> British Asians  - Indians
> Hindi 
>
> British Asians  - Indians, British
> Pakistanis   
> Hungarian Up
> to 70,000 0.12% Hungarian 
> British
> Kannada 
>
> British Asians  - Indians
> Lithuanian 
>
> Lithuanians, Baltic 
> British
> Malayalam 
>
> British Asians  - Indians  
> Mandarin
> Chinese  Around 200,000
> fluent or conversational 0.33% British 
> Chinese
> Mirpuri  
> (Potwari
> ) Up to 700,000 1.15% British Mirpuri Pakistanis.  
> Pashto Around
> 200,000 fluent or conversational 0.33% British 
> Pakistanis
> Polish  600,000 1.0% Polish
> immigrants to the UK and Polish 
> Britons
> Portuguese  Around
> 250,000 fluent or conversational 0.4% Portuguese 
> Britons,
> British Brazilians  and
> Cape Verdean British  Punjabi
> 1,263,000 2.1% British Asians -
> Indian  and 
> Pakistani
> Russian  350,000 0.60% Russian
> British , Ukrainian 
> Britishand other former Soviet
> Union  countries  
> Somali
> 200,000 0.33% British Somalis
> Spanish  490,000 0.8% Spanish
> Britons , Colombian 
> Britishand other Latin
> American Britons   Sylheti
> Bengali 

Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[michael west]

What languages are spoken in the United Kingdom?


 Afrikaans  and
Dutch Approximately
400,000
South African-British
and Dutch
British 
Arabic  Up to 700,000
British Arab  - British
Iranian,
British Iraqi , British
Moroccans , British
Yemeni
Bengali  (standard Bangla) Over
300,000
British Asian  - Bangladeshis
(1st language 5%) and Indians
Cantonese

British Chinese 
Various Caribbean
languages 

British 
Caribbeans
French  Approximately over 1
million
French Britons
German  545,000 0.9% British
Germans 
Greek Up
to 200,000 fluent or conversational 0.34% Greek
Britons  Hebrew
& Yiddish  Up to 100,000
fluent or conversational
British Jews  and Israeli
British
Gujarati 

British Asians  - Indians
Hindi

British Asians  - Indians
Hindi

British Asians  - Indians, British
Pakistanis 
Hungarian Up
to 70,000 0.12% Hungarian
British
Kannada 

British Asians  - Indians
Lithuanian 

Lithuanians, Baltic
British
Malayalam 

British Asians  - Indians  Mandarin
Chinese  Around 200,000
fluent or conversational 0.33% British
Chinese
Mirpuri 
(Potwari
) Up to 700,000 1.15% British Mirpuri Pakistanis.
Pashto Around
200,000 fluent or conversational 0.33% British
Pakistanis
Polish  600,000 1.0% Polish
immigrants to the UK and Polish
Britons
Portuguese  Around 250,000
fluent or conversational 0.4% Portuguese
Britons,
British Brazilians  and Cape
Verdean British  Punjabi 
1,263,000 2.1% British Asians  -
Indian  and
Pakistani
Russian  350,000 0.60% Russian
British , Ukrainian
Britishand other
former Soviet
Union  countries
Somali
200,000 0.33% British Somalis 
Spanish  490,000 0.8% Spanish
Britons , Colombian
Britishand other Latin
American Britons   Sylheti
Bengali 
280,000[17]
0.47% British Bangladeshis(95%
of population)
Tagalog 

Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Thomas Dalton]

> The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the
> newsletter could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we set
> aside two reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute to
> at lease one wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.

Two seats is too many, especially if the board is only 5 members (if
it is increased to 7, it's a little more reasonable) - the proportion
of members from minority languages is likely to be much less than 40%,
and the board should not be so grossly disproportionate. One seat is
worth considering. There are ways of giving minority languages an
involvement in running the chapter without them being given a
dedicated board seat, though - a system of committees (possibly with
budgets and delegated powers - we need legal advice there) could work,
there is also the possibility of a more complicated system involving
subsidiary companies, but that's too complicated to worry about now
(I'm not sure if there would be any real benefits - perhaps it's an
idea best discussed over a pint after the AGM).

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Election Rules (non-english speakers)

[Andrew Turvey]

Q5: Is there any way that you think the election should be run differently to 
the election of the interim Board?

I wanted to answer one of the questions I put with a suggestion regarding 
minority languages.

Most of the people active in Wikimedia UK seem to be active in the english 
Wikimedia projects. However, there are some other smaller Wikimedia languages 
where UK editors form a vital part of the editing and readorship base. I'm 
thinking particularly of the native languages of the UK such as Welsh, Scottish 
Gaelic and maybe Irish, Scots/Ullans, Cornish, Manx etc.

As well as recognised the diversity of the Wikimedia community, there are also 
significant public funds available for promoting these languages which could be 
used by us to support these projects.

The Board has already reached out to these projects by asking if the newsletter 
could be translated into these languages. My suggestion is we set aside two 
reserved seats on the Board for people who actively contribute to at lease one 
wikimedia project in a minority language of the UK.

What do you think?



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