On Friday, February 26, 2016, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Brion,
>
> I understand you and Jimmy Wales go way, way back. But what is the point of
> "coming together" with someone who, just hours before the Knowledge Engine
> grant agreement was released, insisted,


Diplomacy requires talking to your enemies as well as your friends. (And in
the real world, we are rarely all one or the other.)

-- brion






>
> ---o0o---
>
> 'To make this very clear: no one in top positions has proposed or is
> proposing that WMF should get into the general "searching" or to try to "be
> google". It's an interesting hypothetical which has not been part of any
> serious strategy proposal, nor even discussed at the board level, nor
> proposed to the board by staff, nor a part of any grant, etc. It's a total
> lie.'
>
> ---o0o---
>
> When the grant agreement was released -- flatly contradicting his very
> words, in the view of everyone who read it, including every single
> journalist who wrote about it -- Jimmy Wales disappeared for four days from
> the wiki. He eventually resurface and later made an appearance at the
> Knowledge Engine FAQ on Meta explaining that he had only just learnt that
> there really was a search engine project.[1]
>
> How plausible is that? By all accounts, James and Dariusz fought to be
> shown the documents that were later leaked, against the resistance of other
> board members, which presumably included Jimmy Wales (I don't think it
> takes too much intelligence to figure out that Guy Kawasaki and Jimmy Wales
> were among Lila's main supporters and defenders on the board).
>
> So are we to believe that Jimmy Wales had never seen the grant agreements,
> had never seen those documents that all these arguments in the board were
> about, had never even bothered to look at them?
>
> In November 2015, board discussions referred to the Knowledge Engine
> project as a "moon shot", according to James. So all this time Jimmy Wales
> was ignorant of what this "moon shot" was, until some staff member informed
> him on February 19 that there really were plans for a search engine?
>
> "Nor even discussed at board level" my foot!
>
> Even if you bend over backwards to assume Jimmy Wales is telling the truth,
> and he really didn't know anything about this (he might have been struck by
> temporary deafness during these "moon shot" discussions, after all, or
> suffered a bout of amnesia), what does it say about him that he blithely
> went round denouncing people who were telling the truth as liars spreading
> "bullshit", rather than asking questions and informing himself before
> shooting his mouth off?
>
> What's the point of talking when you can't believe a word a person is
> saying?
>
> Andreas
>
> P.S. Now, what is this about Wikia? This is news to me. How would Wikia
> have profited from the Knowledge Engine? Did anyone plan to include Wikia
> among the wikis the search engine would prominently surface?
>
> [1]
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowledge_Engine/FAQ&diff=15365968&oldid=15365951
>
> Andreas
>
> On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 12:09 PM, Brion Vibber <bvib...@wikimedia.org
> <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > Poo has indeed hit fans, as the metaphor goes. But that's hardly the time
> > to STOP talking.
> >
> > I'll be coming down to the SF office as well next week to talk
> > directly with Jimmy and with any staff (and board members!) who want to
> > plan or brainstorm or vent or just share a moment of "aggghhh!" and I'm
> > very much hoping for the best.
> >
> > I think there's no expectation of magic resolutions, and Jimmy knows well
> > that there's been mistrust and there remain serious open issues. But this
> > is a rare inflection point, an opportunity to come together and seriously
> > explore how we got to this point and what we can all do to avoid a "next
> > time".
> >
> > Whatever the outcomes I'm glad to see Jimmy reach out and look forward to
> > some "real talk" and a better understanding of how we all can make
> positive
> > changes together.
> >
> > -- brion
> >
> > On Friday, February 26, 2016, Ruslan Takayev <ruslan.taka...@gmail.com
> <javascript:;>>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Jimmy, et al
> > >
> > > As yet, we have yet to have coherent believable reasoning for the
> removal
> > > of James Heilman from the BoT, but one of the reasons that has been put
> > out
> > > there (rightly or wrongly) is that James was talking to staff about the
> > > state of affairs at the WMF.
> > >
> > > Is this trip not the exact same thing that James was alleged to have
> done
> > > all those months ago? i.e. talking to staff.
> > >
> > > Why are trustees, including yourself, only now willing to listen to
> staff
> > > concerns? The time for that was BEFORE the proverbial poo hit the fan.
> > >
> > > I am seeing the announcement of your trip as nothing more than a
> "knight
> > in
> > > shining armor" routine, that frankly is too little too late.
> > >
> > > Warm regards,
> > >
> > > Ruslan Takayev
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 4:06 AM, Jimmy Wales <jimmywa...@ymail.com
> <javascript:;>
> > > <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Here is a note that I just sent to the staff mailing list (stuck in a
> > > > queue at the moment, so some staff will see it here first.).
> > > >
> > > > Hi everyone!
> > > >
> > > > I am coming to San Francisco on Saturday for a few days to meet with
> a
> > > > lot of you.  I know many of you are not actually in San Francisco, so
> > > > I'll be sure to set aside time for remote meetings as well.
> > > >
> > > > By now you of course have heard that Lila is leaving us, and my hope
> is
> > > > that we're going to enter a new era of stability and productivity.
> And
> > > > for that to happen, the board - including me - needs to hear from
> you,
> > > > to listen and learn.
> > > >
> > > > Brion Vibber, who I hired as the first ever employee of the
> Foundation,
> > > > said this to me on Facebook recently: "Jimmy Wales welcome back to
> the
> > > > conversation. I look forward to how you address the current crisis,
> and
> > > > hope it will involve the kind of careful listening and thoughtful
> > > > consideration that I remember from 2001."
> > > >
> > > > That's what I want, too.  I want to listen and I want to help the
> board
> > > > make good decisions.
> > > >
> > > > For me, the mission - a free encyclopedia for every single person on
> > the
> > > > planet, in their own language - is what brought us all together.
> It's
> > > > what keeps us going even in difficult times.  But my view is that it
> > > > doesn't have to be difficult times.  Working at the WMF should be -
> and
> > > > will be, I really think - a joy: the joy of working with the best
> > > > colleagues, the joy of doing work that matters to the world, and the
> > joy
> > > > of working for the fantastic global community of Wikipedians.
> > > >
> > > > I'll be reaching out to some of you - probably starting with people I
> > > > already know - but please reach out to me as well if you'd like to
> > meet.
> > > >
> > > > I'm in SF from Saturday afternoon through Wednesday evening, so
> > > > depending on demand, I may not be able to see everyone, but I'd like
> to
> > > > get a good overview.
> > > >
> > > > --Jimbo
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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