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/ <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]> 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], 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]
_______________________________________________ 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/7IOYMJZ4S7UTL7YCL3545257EAXZDT6W/ To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
