Re: [MLUG] Wikipedia on /.

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> I think the bigger problem with a project like Wikipedia is that 
> absolutely anyone is allowed to change the information in the 
> encyclopedia.  So, the world's greatest expert could write an article 
> on some topic, then anybody could go in and change what the guy had 
> written.

Why shouldn't they be able to? Even if the information given today is 
perfect it'll still need to be changed over time as more is learned. The 
interesting thing about Wikipedia is you can have multiple versions such 
that you could, in theory, look at the same article as it changed 
through time which could let you see how science, culture, politics, etc 
changes.. just by studying how articles were changed in different times.

There should be some sort of a control process but I don't think 
restricting who can add to the wiki is the best method. I'd rather see 
pages marked 'verified' or 'unverified' with different levels of 
moderation required to make them 'verified'. Something closer to how the 
Linux kernel is done. A page keeper would verify the update, then a 
section keeper would verify the update, and finally the wiki keeper 
would verify the update. Usually the book keeper would just okay 
anything previously verified from a trusted section keeper without 
needing to look at it.. obviously he'd have to check anything from an 
untrusted section keeper. Likewise between the section keeper and the 
page keeper. The whole thing should be built on a trust network.

-- 
Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>
http://kavlon.org

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