Parallels

Planning ·· Reflection ·· Parallels

Parallel organizations and model wikiprojects belong here.

Wikimedia projects, communities, and initiatives have a few big things to teach, but many more things to learn from past and present organizations. Similarly, the large communities have much to learn from individual, small, successful wikiprojects.

Discussions about what should or should not happen, and hypotheses about the results of community or policy or organizational change, often hinge on unknowns. Reading and learning about how other projects and international volunteer efforts work, and how similarly bold historical efforts have grown and transformed, can inform these discussions and help them break new ground without "reinventing the flat tire".

This page is for parallels in organizations and initiatives -- technological, multilingual, inspirational, and revolutionary parallels; yesterday and today.

Examples : a long thread about parallels with the Apache Foundation on the foundation list this past June, and the public essay on 'how not to manage an open source project' from one of the NetBSD founders. Similarities between Wikipedia or Wikimedia and other international volunteer efforts or content-creation foundations, such as the development of the OED, the International Red Cross, the Debian and Ubuntu Foundations, or National Public Radio, often tossed off in the middle of community debates... link to those, even when they have no supporting evidence. Someone else may come along and provide a reference or two.

Wikiproject models

Article assessment: DE

(1+ project, other?)

Article assessment: EN

In 2005 : 36 pages of discussion, 1 assessment.

Late 2006: after some small-scale mobilization, almost 100k articles assessed, half in September.

Stub sorting project

remarkable growth, style guide development, rapid responses...

an essay

<via walkerma>

Organizational parallels

BSD

• "How not to manage an open source project" (Sep 06)

Apache Foundation

• A proposal for organization - part 1
• part 2 (the easy way or the less easy way)

Other

• Ourmedia
• Ubuntu Foundation
• Mozilla Foundation
• Omidyar Network