If public wikis were really a matter of just anyone contributing any edits they want, then it would just be utter chaos. The entire concept would collapse, under a barrage of bad faith trolling or else good-faith-but-wildly-contradictory edits.
Just as the utopian ideals of open source source generally work only when there is a corporation or foundation funding it, wikis only work when there is a power and control hierarchy. A "priestly caste" emerges, that uses wiki-lawyering and brute force determination to consolidate power and enforce a specific vision for any page.
In other words, contributing to Wikipedia or something like it is such a godforsaken task post-2010, that only the most manically obsessed and dedicated would even try. Some might argue that this is a feature not a bug, I don't know. But it is absolutely valid to criticize a wiki page, without necessarily going to war to get it changed.
Re:Wikiversity
by rglullis on Monday October 17, 2022 @10:37AM
(#33234085)
First you need to get users, then you need to worry about order and proper governance. This wiki is not failing because of "chaos" and trolls. It is failing due to a lack of a general interest.
If public wikis were really a matter of just anyone contributing any edits they want, then it would just be utter chaos. The entire concept would collapse, under a barrage of bad faith trolling or else good-faith-but-wildly-contradictory edits.
Just as the utopian ideals of open source source generally work only when there is a corporation or foundation funding it, wikis only work when there is a power and control hierarchy. A "priestly caste" emerges, that uses wiki-lawyering and brute force determination to consolidate power and enforce a specific vision for any page.
In other words, contributing to Wikipedia or something like it is such a godforsaken task post-2010, that only the most manically obsessed and dedicated would even try. Some might argue that this is a feature not a bug, I don't know. But it is absolutely valid to criticize a wiki page, without necessarily going to war to get it changed.