Wikimedia Forum/Archives/2022-07
Please do not post any new comments on this page. This is a discussion archive first created in July 2022, although the comments contained were likely posted before and after this date. See current discussion or the archives index. |
Affiliate websites
Hi, I was just going through wb.wikimedia.org and came across several other internal wikis set for recognised affiliates of Wikimedia. Does any one have an idea about how and where to request for such a wiki? Thanks. ─ The Aafī (talk) 16:50, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- Looks like I got my answer at Create a new Wikimedia wiki ─ The Aafī (talk) 17:13, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: Solved by the original poster. Answer: This link is used to request a new wiki. – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 20:02, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
Question about undeletion
There is a specific user right just for deleting redirects, but is their one for undeleting them? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 01:52, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Jeff G.: – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 11:34, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- There isn't either. There is a permission that allows suppression of redirect creation during certain moves, and there is a special workflow with certain redirect pages - but neither of these allow for just arbitrarily deleting a page that just so happens to be a redirect; that requires the "delete pages" permission, and restoring requires the "undelete a page" permission. — xaosflux Talk 13:23, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Xaosflux There's the
delete-redirect
user right which allows for deletion of single revision redirects by people that otherwise do not have the ability to delete pages, on enwiki it's given to page movers, for example. 163.1.15.238 14:53, 14 July 2022 (UTC)- Yes, that is what I was saying about the special workflow in certain redirects that makes use of that (c.f. phab:T239277 - and the expansion being looked in to at phab:T272707.). It doesn't allow just direct Special:Delete workflows. No, it doesn't allow undeletion, and would be problematic: a page could have just one revision, but also have multiple old deleted revisions. Additionally, it is usually wise to look at revisions before undeleting them, which requires additional permissions. — xaosflux Talk 15:16, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Xaosflux There's the
- There isn't either. There is a permission that allows suppression of redirect creation during certain moves, and there is a special workflow with certain redirect pages - but neither of these allow for just arbitrarily deleting a page that just so happens to be a redirect; that requires the "delete pages" permission, and restoring requires the "undelete a page" permission. — xaosflux Talk 13:23, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: — xaosflux Talk 21:29, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
Question about the database
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Does the database keep track of which edits are imported edits (import or importupload) vs which are actual, full edits? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 01:32, 16 July 2022 (UTC)
- This is not the place to make technical queries regarding the MediaWiki software; please ask such questions at the MediaWiki support desk. — xaosflux Talk 18:39, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: — xaosflux Talk 21:29, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
Question about Gerrit
Is it possible to make a private patch that isn't meant to go production, then later it could either be set to public (going to production), or removed? - Ilovemydoodle (talk) 02:35, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Ilovemydoodle: There are no private patches on Gerrit. If you don't want it to be reviewed, you can set it as a "work in progress", which means most people won't review it. Until someone with +2 rights approves the patch, it won't get merged so there's no risk of a patch that isn't ready accidentally going to production. Legoktm (talk) 05:23, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Legoktm: That is exactly what I want! In-fact it's even better, because I would still like other people to be able to see it. – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 05:25, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: Off-topic question was answered. — xaosflux Talk 21:30, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
Reverse-protection RfC (phab)
What is your opinion on this feature request? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 22:48, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
- Honestly, it doesn't seem like it would have any real use cases and it seems like it would be open to abuse.
- The proposed use cases for this feature (i.e. appeals and explanation) are already covered by blocked editors being able to edit their talk pages.
- A forum specifically designed for blocked users seems to me like it would rapidly fill up with vandalism and undesirable content, and if blocks can't be used to stop people editing it admins will be very limited in how they can control the page.
- You also have to bear in mind that not all blocks are equal, e.g. for someone blocked for lack of language proficiency there is no harm in allowing talk page access and appeals, someone blocked for attempting to out/dox another editor would usually be blocked with talk page and email access disabled, and allowing them access to a page where they could continue to post the same material would be highly problematic. 163.1.15.238 15:07, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: See phab:T312835. — xaosflux Talk 13:11, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
Mediawiki developer
Is anyone willing to make a patch for me? It is a medium sized patch that would add few user right and group additions. The changes have not been approved by consensus yet, but likely will be. If you are willing to help with this reply with "Accepted", if you would like more information before accepting reply with "Info". Edit: Moved to MediaWiki support desk – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 06:21, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- This is q:Wikiquote:Village pump#Feedback on proposal for new user right, right? If so, can you please stop promoting your overcomplicated proposal that evidently no one else wants? * Pppery * it has begun 14:03, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Pppery: If you do not wish to participate, then do not participate. – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:09, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Stang: Would you be willing to do this? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:16, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- I don't think a request with unresolved oppose could be called "consensus". Stang 19:17, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Stang: I specifically said that there was not consensus yet. – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:29, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Stang: So, yes or no? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 20:24, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Stang: I specifically said that there was not consensus yet. – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:29, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- I don't think a request with unresolved oppose could be called "consensus". Stang 19:17, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: Being followed up at a better venue. — xaosflux Talk 13:09, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
Welcome-bot messages on unedited wikis are creepy
I recently received a welcome message from a bot on the Thai Wikipedia, where I have never made a single edit, and at the time had only visited once while logged in to look at a single article page. First, this is fairly pointless, because I can't read or write Thai. Second, it's annoying and preventing me from, for example, clicking on a bunch of interlingua links to survey keyword presence or similar data across languages, because I don't want to spam my notifications.
But far more importantly than either of those reasons, this is very creepy. How exactly does a welcome-bot know what I have been reading without editing? Is the list of articles I have read across the wikipedias publicly available? Should it even be available to administrators? Even if it's just a set of boolean flags saying what language wikis I've read, can we please turn this behavior off?
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be welcomed after actually editing, but this is going too far, and suggests a serious privacy breach has been normalized. I do appreciate the "If you are not a Thai speaker, you can ask a question in our Guestbook" link, but suggest that might be more appropriate at the bottom of the wiki's sidebar, where it would be more widely visible, especially to the logged out. If this is not the correct place to make this request, please move it and ping me; thank you. Dan Ratan (talk) 00:39, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Dan Ratan when reading articles in other wiki projects, you're automatically creating local accounts there thanks to Help:Unified login, that's what happened at thWP as well [1].
- The Bot is looking at the user creation log [2] and sends welcome messages to all users creating an account [3]. Johannnes89 (talk) 06:28, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
- Thank you for explaining how it happened, but that really doesn't explain why, does it? All three of my complaints stand. Just because something is possible doesn't mean it's a good idea. Dan Ratan (talk) 07:09, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Dan Ratan it answers some of your questions: The welcome-bot doesn't know what you're reading, it just knows that you've automatically created a local account at their wiki.
- And no there is no list of articles you've read available (neither publicly nor to administrators).
- Concerning the why: Many wiki projects are using (automatic) welcome messages to potentially increase user engagement. But as the bot doesn't know which users are likely to edit, some projects just send welcome messages to all users (auto)creating an account. -- Johannnes89 (talk) 10:55, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
- Thank you for explaining how it happened, but that really doesn't explain why, does it? All three of my complaints stand. Just because something is possible doesn't mean it's a good idea. Dan Ratan (talk) 07:09, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
- So no, we (the global community) are very unlikely to forbid local projects from welcoming new editors to their projects if they want to. What could happen? phab:T21161 may be what you are looking for - if you just want to read a page on a project and have no intention to edit there, then not having auto-registration on read occur on new-to-you projects could be the fix for this. — xaosflux Talk 14:34, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
Movement Strategy and Governance News – Issue 7
Movement Strategy and Governance News
Issue 7, July-September 2022Read the full newsletter
Welcome to the 7th issue of Movement Strategy and Governance News! The newsletter distributes relevant news and events about the implementation of Wikimedia's Movement Strategy recommendations, other relevant topics regarding Movement governance, as well as different projects and activities supported by the Movement Strategy and Governance (MSG) team of the Wikimedia Foundation.
The MSG Newsletter is delivered quarterly, while the more frequent Movement Strategy Weekly will be delivered weekly. Please remember to subscribe here if you would like to receive future issues of this newsletter.
- Movement sustainability: Wikimedia Foundation's annual sustainability report has been published. (continue reading)
- Improving user experience: recent improvements on the desktop interface for Wikimedia projects. (continue reading)
- Safety and inclusion: updates on the revision process of the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines. (continue reading)
- Equity in decisionmaking: reports from Hubs pilots conversations, recent progress from the Movement Charter Drafting Committee, and a new white paper for futures of participation in the Wikimedia movement. (continue reading)
- Stakeholders coordination: launch of a helpdesk for Affiliates and volunteer communities working on content partnership. (continue reading)
- Leadership development: updates on leadership projects by Wikimedia movement organizers in Brazil and Cape Verde. (continue reading)
- Internal knowledge management: launch of a new portal for technical documentation and community resources. (continue reading)
- Innovate in free knowledge: high-quality audiovisual resources for scientific experiments and a new toolkit to record oral transcripts. (continue reading)
- Evaluate, iterate, and adapt: results from the Equity Landscape project pilot (continue reading)
- Other news and updates: a new forum to discuss Movement Strategy implementation, upcoming Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees election, a new podcast to discuss Movement Strategy, and change of personnel for the Foundation's Movement Strategy and Governance team. (continue reading)
Thank you for reading! Best, RamzyM (WMF) (talk) 01:30, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
Talysh Wikipedia (Wp/tly) logo
Hello everyone. This logo is wrong. It should be "Ozodə Ensiklopediya". Not "Ojə Ensiklopediyə". Who can help me prepare the new logo? Thanks in advance. Patriot Kor (talk) 09:41, 15 July 2022 (UTC)
- @Mrmw: You read the root message. Dušan Kreheľ (talk) 07:31, 16 July 2022 (UTC)
Question about importing and the abuse filter
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Can using the import
or importupload
user rights ever trip the abuse filter? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 20:21, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
- Good question. I tested multiple times, and to my surprise the answer was no, even when using nothing but
user_name == 'NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh'
. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 17:14, 13 July 2022 (UTC)- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: What if using
importupload
creates a page on the title blacklist? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 18:54, 13 July 2022 (UTC)- I don't have
importupload
anywhere so I'm afraid you'll have to ask someone else. Note also that I, having adminship on testwiki, can override title blacklist no matter what kind of action I do. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 18:58, 13 July 2022 (UTC)- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Could you ask someone with the
importupload
right? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:06, 13 July 2022 (UTC)- No, sorry. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 19:07, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Is
import
orimportupload
restricted by the ratelimit? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:35, 13 July 2022 (UTC)- Since I'm exempted from the rate limit, thanks to GR, that's not a question I can answer either. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 19:38, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Could you temporarily self-revoke the right? Also, what's "GR"? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:41, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- GR means global rollback, and no, I cannot. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 19:43, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Who else could I ask about this? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 20:00, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- I don't know. Importers? NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 14:23, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Who else could I ask about this? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 20:00, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- GR means global rollback, and no, I cannot. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 19:43, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Could you temporarily self-revoke the right? Also, what's "GR"? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 19:41, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- Since I'm exempted from the rate limit, thanks to GR, that's not a question I can answer either. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 19:38, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Is
- No, sorry. NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh 19:07, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: Could you ask someone with the
- I don't have
- @NguoiDungKhongDinhDanh: What if using
- This is not the place to make technical queries regarding the MediaWiki software; please ask such questions at the MediaWiki support desk. — xaosflux Talk 18:39, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
CropTool
Commons' "CropTool", essential to the workflow of a number of contributors, has been badly broken for over a month. There appears, from discussion on its talk page, Village Pumps, and at GitHub, to be no work in hand to fix it. What is to be done?
More generally, is it appropriate for us to be so reliant on tools which apparently have no robust support in place? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:24, 16 July 2022 (UTC)
- Has anyone reached out directly to the maintainer e.g. via email about the issue?
- To your general question, no, it's not appropriate. The best practice is to have multiple maintainers (CropTool only has one). In theory cropping is important enough functionality that it should be supported by MediaWiki itself. I found T9757, which is about cropping at render time and T159640, which is cropping at upload time (or post-upload). Personally, I have offered to mentor someone on implementing backend image rotation support, which is tangentially related in that if we have a backend that can rotate images, in theory it's straightforward to add backend cropping support. Legoktm (talk) 05:30, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
- Not sure who to recruit, but I'm happy to add more maintainers if someone is interested. Danmichaelo (talk) 22:02, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
It appears that the WMF will be unilaterally making changes to these policies, see Talk:CheckUser_policy#Notification_of_upcoming_changes_to_policy. I thought the community owned these policies? Rschen7754 00:04, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
Let's talk about the Desktop Improvements
Join an online meeting with the team working on the Desktop Improvements! It will take place on 26 July 2022 at 12:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC on Zoom. Click here to join. Meeting ID: 5304280674. Dial by your location.
Read more. See you! SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 16:19, 25 July 2022 (UTC)
- Double plus un-good. – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 02:05, 17 August 2022 (UTC)
- This section was archived on a request by: Johannnes89 (talk) 06:49, 17 August 2022 (UTC)
Question about Gerrit
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Can you have a patch reviewed without it being sent to production? – Ilovemydoodle (talk) 06:34, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
- This is not the place to make technical queries regarding the MediaWiki software; please ask such questions at the MediaWiki support desk. Additionally, @Ilovemydoodle: please stop creating all of these off-topic threads here, it is starting to be disruptive, this page is for discussion about the foundation and the projects themselves - not software. — xaosflux Talk 21:25, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
Announcing the six candidates for the 2022 Board of Trustees election
Hi everyone,
The Affiliate voting process has concluded. Representatives from each Affiliate organization learned about the candidates by reading candidates’ statements, reviewing candidates’ answers to questions, and considering the candidates’ ratings provided by the Analysis Committee. The selected 2022 Board of Trustees candidates are:
- Tobechukwu Precious Friday (Tochiprecious)
- Farah Jack Mustaklem (Fjmustak)
- Shani Evenstein Sigalov (Esh77)
- Kunal Mehta (Legoktm)
- Michał Buczyński (Aegis Maelstrom)
- Mike Peel (Mike Peel)
You may see more information about the Results and Statistics of this Board election.
Please take a moment to appreciate the Affiliate Representatives and Analysis Committee members for taking part in this process and helping to grow the Board of Trustees in capacity and diversity. These hours of volunteer work connect us across understanding and perspective. Thank you for your participation.
Thank you to the community members who put themselves forward as candidates for the Board of Trustees. Considering joining the Board of Trustees is no small decision. The time and dedication candidates have shown to this point speaks to their commitment to this movement. Congratulations to those candidates who have been selected. A great amount of appreciation and gratitude for those candidates not selected. Please continue to share your leadership with Wikimedia.
Thank you to those who followed the Affiliate process for this Board election. You may review the results of the Affiliate selection process.
The next part of the Board election process is the community voting period. You may view the Board election timeline here. To prepare for the community voting period, there are several things community members can engage with in the following ways:
- Read candidates’ statements and read the candidates’ answers to the questions posed by the Affiliate Representatives.
- Propose and select the 6 questions for candidates to answer during their video Q&A.
- See the Analysis Committee’s ratings of candidates on each candidate’s statement.
- Propose statements for the Election Compass voters can use to find which candidates best fit their principles.
- Encourage others in your community to take part in the election.
Best,
Movement Strategy and Governance
This message was sent on behalf of the Board Selection Task Force and the Elections Committee
MNadzikiewicz (WMF) (talk) 18:51, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
- @MNadzikiewicz (WMF): Did the 6 elected candidates accept their candidacy? That is didn't they refuse? Dušan Kreheľ (talk) 19:13, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
- Thanks Maciej! Dušan: I don't know what you mean -- they all opted into the election, and answered extensive questions to stand as candidates. So, yes. –SJ talk 02:32, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
- @MNadzikiewicz (WMF), @Sj: I understand now. This vote have the 2 levels as a 2 eliminations. Dušan Kreheľ (talk) 17:21, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
- Right! The final election is coming up. –SJ talk 19:49, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
- Thanks Maciej! Dušan: I don't know what you mean -- they all opted into the election, and answered extensive questions to stand as candidates. So, yes. –SJ talk 02:32, 20 July 2022 (UTC)
Brand Stewardship Report
Hello! The Wikimedia Foundation Legal department is interested in feedback on the Brand Stewardship Report content outline. From the description of the report:
- "The goal of this report is to educate people both new to and seasoned in the Wikimedia movement about the complex and fun process of stewarding the Wikimedia brands which includes projects and ongoing processes to amplify awareness, usage, and support as well as maintain and protect legal trademark rights through policy and practice."
More information, including the content outline, is available on the above-linked page. Please leave feedback and questions on its talk page. Thank you, and happy editing! RAdimer-WMF (talk) 17:08, 22 July 2022 (UTC)
Vote for Election Compass Statements
Hi all,
Volunteers in the 2022 Board of Trustees election are invited to vote for statements to use in the Election Compass. You can vote for the statements you would like to see included in the Election Compass on Meta-wiki.
An Election Compass is a tool to help voters select the candidates that best align with their beliefs and views. The community members will propose statements for the candidates to answer using a Lickert scale (agree/neutral/disagree). The candidates’ answers to the statements will be loaded into the Election Compass tool. Voters will use the tool by entering in their answer to the statements (agree/disagree/neutral). The results will show the candidates that best align with the voter’s beliefs and views.
Here is the timeline for the Election Compass:
July 8 - 20: Volunteers propose statements for the Election CompassJuly 21 - 22: Elections Committee reviews statements for clarity and removes off-topic statements- July 23 - August 1: Volunteers vote on the statements
- August 2 - 4: Elections Committee selects the top 15 statements
- August 5 - 12: candidates align themselves with the statements
- August 15: The Election Compass opens for voters to use to help guide their voting decision
The Elections Committee will select the top 15 statements at the beginning of August
Best,
Movement Strategy and Governance
This message was sent on behalf of the Board Selection Task Force and the Elections Committee
MNadzikiewicz (WMF) (talk) 21:22, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
用戶使用中文字體留言的想法
- 這些時間以來我獨自一個人在網路上查找一些計算機領域的知識,期間包含了許多知名的軟體公司,科技產業公司,網站設計公司,所有的網頁在介紹自己的公司都是採用相同的模板式的文章內容:我們致力於..、我們公司的影響力、包容性、我們的在環境保護的影響、在公司高級主管領導下...。
- 我只想問問這些公司寫一篇關於公司的簡單介紹很困難嗎?,如果一家公司在編寫公司的簡介的時候一慣性的把其他公司的自我介紹全部照搬來套用在自己的公司介紹,軟體公司的銷售人員在回答客戶詢問時還大言不慚的說:很抱歉!我只會英文!一家公司的廣告投放在亞洲地區,不懂得其他語言很正常,但是軟體公司的職員不會使用翻譯軟體解決問題那就是應變能力,擔任銷售或是公關部門的員工必須具備緊急應變的能力,一個不會溝通的銷售人員就是沒有能力,聘請沒有能力的公司要怎麼去說服別人自己的公司在軟體設計的領域具備基本的專業素質。
- 最後我也想問問 Wikimedia worldwide strategy 這些標題只是在跟隨同行業者製作的口號嗎?為什麼我覺得實質的問題一樣存在,又有那些問題已經被這些戰略解決了?我們願意等待改革的時間,但是這個戰略需要的改善時間我們真的沒辦法在有限的生命時間中親眼見證結果!講出事實總是會讓人感到非常的不被尊重,不願意接受事實的人們往往會把這些事實的陳述當成是他人在進行言語的攻擊,承接在我留下這篇討論之前已經有許多來自不同的地區,擁有不同文化背景的(Wikimedia 志願者)一樣也有同樣的觀點,那麼我們的討論一直圍繞在管理、政策的模糊地帶,差異只在使用不同的語言文字而已,共通的想法通常不須要經過語言就能出現一樣的想法,在國際上的法律有的名詞定義為:國際普通法,在人類的生活中普遍使用的習慣都可以適合使用國際通用行為的法則。Ch.Jaguar (talk) 12:58, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
- Note: This topic was moved from Talk:Leadership_Development_Working_Group. --SCP-2000 15:32, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
- The original, and other posts by this editor, seem pretty incoherent. Partial translation of the topic sentences below. –SJ talk 18:59, 18 July 2022 (UTC) 1. Since these days, I have been searching for some knowledge in the computer field on the Internet, including many well-known software companies... 2. I just want to ask these companies is it difficult to write a brief introduction about the company?...
- 3. Finally, I also want to ask Wikimedia worldwide strategy Are these titles just following the slogans made by the same industry?...
- It seems that this editor doesn't really understand how Wikimedia project and Movement Strategy work. --SCP-2000 02:28, 1 August 2022 (UTC)
Global removal/ban of GFDL
Hello! I has been known for many years that GFDL is not a good license for many purposes. Motivated by a wish to make it easier to re-use files the Wikimedia Foundation Board decided in 2009 to stop using GFDL as a sole license while allowing importation of text without the GFDL license. The Wikimedia Foundation Board did not forbid GFDL for media files but encourages people to use licenses other than GFDL, for example CC licenses. Now many wikis no longer accept GFDL for images. See 2018 discussion on Commons and the 2021 discussion on enwiki about restricting GFDL.
I have checked most wikis and suggested to remove GFDL as a suggested license during upload. Many wikis removed GFDL but a few did not. So there are still wikis where you can upload files licensed GFDL without having to add it manually. Even if GFDL is not on the drop down list of licenses it is still legal to upload files and add GFDL manually on most wikis.
I think we should have a global removal/ban of GFDL for files and for text (GFDL is still mentioned on Terms of use). But I would like to hear opinions on how and when such a global removal/ban could be implemented. So it is not meant to be an official proposal and vote yet. --MGA73 (talk) 16:12, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
- @MGA73 I suppose what I'd like to see from your proposal is a statement of impact. That is, who would be impacted by this? I don't think that common projects like commonswiki/wikidata have this issue for media, and many local projects simply don't allow local uploads at all.
- I also can't see that there is any problem that text contributions are multi-licensed this way; for revision publications - what is the benefit of this change across every project? — xaosflux Talk 18:39, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
- Yeah those are good points. I will make sure to include examples when it is time for the proposal/vote. --MGA73 (talk) 21:35, 27 July 2022 (UTC)--MGA73 (talk) 21:35, 27 July 2022 (UTC)
- Xaosflux, one argument is that the GFDL provides kind of a ShareAlike loophole. I can print a paper Wikipedia, with improvements, license the whole thing GFDL-only and Wikipedia won't be able to use any of my improvements.
Another is that to import content GFDL is not required. So the imaginary paper Wikipedia I just printed may well infringe on the copyright of others who didn't license their content as GFDL. — Alexis Jazz (talk or ping me) 16:55, 11 August 2022 (UTC)