Well put, and I definitely agree!

śr., 13 maj 2026, 02:05 użytkownik Neal McBurnett 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> napisał:
Those are some interesting episodes, for sure. Thank you.

But it seems that Dariusz left out the eventual outcome of some of those 
chapters.

 *     After a few years of refinement, VisualEditor returned as the default 
for new Wikipedia editors.
 *     Media Viewer is also enabled by default on all Wikimedia sites, and 
registered users can disable it locally or globally in preferences.
 *     Superprotect was removed by the Foundation after pushback.
 *     I already often get citations from AI models to Wikipedia articles. Not 
enough, but not none.

So I'd say the evidence presented shows a long-running creative tension between 
the Foundation and the community, which can improve the quality of new 
proposals but also slow down the pace of innovation.
The AI changes affect Wikipedia's core trust model and are deeply challenging 
to navigate, and they are still in the midst of that tension.

Overall, that seems like a surprisingly effective governance record. It is also 
messy, which shouldn't be surprising when humans are debating such complicated 
and important issues.

--
Neal McBurnett                 https://neal.mcburnett.org/
Don't believe everything you think

On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 10:18 AM Dariusz Jemielniak via Wikimedia-l 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
hi,

stepping down from the Board after a decade gave me some time for reflection. 
Apart from writing a book about 
antiscience<https://www.routledge.com/Anti-Science-Shortcuts-to-a-Big-Idea/Jemielniak/p/book/9781041212980>,
 as we're celebrating Wikipedia's 25th anniversary, I've gathered some thoughts 
in a couple of published pieces:

At Age 25, Wikipedia Refuses to 
Evolve<https://spectrum.ieee.org/wikipedia-at-25> (IEEE Spectrum)
Wikipedia at 25: The Encyclopedia That Shouldn't 
Exist<https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/co/2026/04/11459344/2fj9x1H2m1G> 
(IEEE Computer, mostly about our past, preprint 
here<https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/shjnz_v1>), and a more bitter follow-up 
about our present and future:
Wikipedia at 25: The Encyclopedia That Might Not 
Last<https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11503356> (IEEE Computer, preprint 
here<https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/dkpga_v1>).

I'm probably wrong. Mostly wrong. Totally. I hope I am.

Still, I've thought that we're at this bittersweet point in our movement, when 
strategic reflection can help us grow and make open knowledge great again.

Sharing as food for thought, hopefully not poisonous. Too much.

dj "pundit"
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- 
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>, 
guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
Public archives at 
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/WVAWVPUTUC3WJGXJKEDIFLJIKZB4OEKU/
To unsubscribe send an email to 
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>



_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines at: 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and 
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
Public archives at 
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/QKAHJNF4GTNSWZKOKRPWUS5F4EIHRXOH/
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]

Reply via email to