Citizendium
by Volker Weber
A month ago I wrote that Wikipedia is going to fork, and I also said "I'd be surprised if this works". Hartmut took me to task, and I have not answered his concerns.
Here is a very thoughtful piece about Citizendium, what they are up to, and why it may or may not work. After reading it, I'd still say I will be surprised if this works. Pleasantly surprised, but still surprised.
[via Ned]
Comments
Die in dem erwähnten Artikel geäußerte Einschätzung leuchtet mir ein: "(...) what does the birth of Citizendium mean for Wikipedia? I think it's a mixed bag. On one hand, as wikis thrive on traffic, it hurts to have a viable competitor for the online encyclopedia throne, and it's doubly painful to have a competitor that's attempting to specifically attract experts and those who care about accuracy. On the other hand, though, another game in town promises to increase awareness about online encyclopedias and attract new people to wikis, get competitive juices flowing which may lead to a streamlining and optimization of Wikipedia's practices and community structure, and lead to a symbiotic relationship between the two encyclopedias."
Natürlich benütze ich auch Wikipedia (zumal es bei Google ziemlich oft ziemlich weit vorn erscheint). Das ändert bloß nichts an dem prinzipiellen Problem: Was kann eine Enzyklopädie leisten, die von sehr vielen Leuten einfach so zusammengeschustert wird, also zufällig mal gut, mal weniger gut ist? Insofern hat das Citizendium-Projekt meine Sympathie. Ich werde sogar daran mitarbeiten - meine erste Open-Source-Aktivität. Mal sehen, ob man das in Richtung der Enzyklopädien von Diderot, Hegel und Konsorten drehen kann.
