Can't a way be found to resolve the tension between the following values?
It is technically possible for a resource such as Wikipedia to keep both the chaos and integrity, but it requires the revision history to branch, in the fashion of release engineering. You have a CURRENT branch that everyone and their dog can hack on, and a STABLE (or in this case, REVIEWED) branch where peer-review from very select groups takes place before any new revision can be committed. There will be far fewer articles with STABLE branches, and they will evolve slower, but that's the tradeoff. There are more complex alternatives involving simply rating articles among multiple criteria and using a customizable trust metric. Such ratings would be lost at each revision, but presumably your own peer group has interest in reviewing changes quickly. Such a system is likely to devolve however into cliques that merely wish to reinforce their own worldview, actual truth be damned, but cliques are always a problem among self-selecting groups. In any case, Jimmy is highly unlikely to implement such technical measures on Wikipedia for many and various reasons. --ChuckAdams
I think it is a great way to contribute to actively experiment with your ideas and share your results with others in the mainstream project. -- SunirShah
Well, don't forget that software is made by people, and those people are involved in a political process. Different software just means different politics. If you're disgusted with Wikipedia now, it's better to channel your energy into building your new engine rather than become embittered. Then you'll have something tangible to show when presenting your ideas to others, which should improve their receptiveness. Hopefully by then you'll have enough distance from Wikipedia to be willing to share ideas with them in a warm, positive, friendly manner. -- SunirShah
As a long-time wiki developer I see you head-in-the-clouds. There are at least 50 wiki engines actually actively competing in the "market" and its really hard work to be innovative, get attention and be successful. Most of the engines are GPL-ed, so a majority of users=founders=admins just take a free engine into account. At the moment there is really not a single reason - sorry for this - to trust you to succeed. -- HelmutLeitner
It seems you like the HeroRole?. Knowing better than WikiPedia and everyone, fighting your lonely war. But the facts are much less heroic. To create a new idea, explore it with users, and make it understood and popular is 10x more work than cloning it later without risk. Engine developers copy whatever they see and like, quickly. Next is that you can't build an engine on a small subset of features, because all major engines support 150-200+ features. 300+ features in two years. So be prepared to add another few thousands work hours to be on par with them. -- HelmutLeitner
I concur with HelmutLeitner. Plus, I still do not see that anyone has made a clear case as to why Wikipedai MUST be forked. Many people will feel the same way. Many people will guess that any problems in Wikipedia can likely be solved by working within the group that makes up Wikipedia. It seems logical for me to work with the Wikipedia community to solve problems and issues, rather than just fork it. You've said that you think forking is the only option, but I don't understand why you see it that way.-SamRose
It is a natural process to fork, through RightToFork. WikiPedia is highly successful in many ways, yet there are scores of people interested in collaborating who find it frustrating. LionKimbro and I have discussed this and he calls his ideas for a next step a FederatedWiki? and I call mine WikiVersioning?, both are thinking about the many points of view and many authorities on a given subject. NPOV and "TheOneArticle?" cause a tension that is good at one level and frustrating at another level. GeorgeBush/RepublicanView - GeorgeBush/DemocraticView - GeorgeBush/ChristianConservativeView - GeorgeBush/AnarchistView - GeorgeBush/LibertarianView - why limit? - wouldn't it be good to have a system that worked so people could work on their own individual view of a topic. This could open up a role for someone to try to condense them onto a main article (like Wikipedia does) or GeorgeBush/AllViews - then based on what people trust (sources of the writing) and agree with could get linked to. I say good luck with the forking, but as this community is saying it is not simply a technological exercise, you will need to collaborate too. This has been rattling around in my head for a while, and not as refined as I would like, but it is the gist of it. (see WikiIndex:WikiEngineTree? at http://WikiIndex.com/WikiEngineTree) Best, MarkDilley