Should UbuntuForums work on expanding Wikipedia?

[BWF89]

As everyone knows UbuntuForums has a lot of members. At this very moment it's 154 members and 524 guests. So I figured, why not combine our vast manpower to do something useful.

I think that UbuntuForums should create a community project that every week takes 1 Wikipedia article that is severely lacking in information and get the forum members to pull together to expand it.

First we would have to select which version of Wikipedia we want to expand. But since most forum members speak English and the forums are written in English we would probably work on en.Wikipedia.org.

Then we would have to setup guidelines to what kind of articles would be candidates for expansion.

If enough people are interested theres two ways we could go about choosing an article to expand:

The organized way: We could put up a poll to elect a forum member who would have the responsibility for choosing which articles the forum should work on expanding. This forum member could be elected indefinitely or for a fixed period of time (1 month, 3 months, 6 months etc.)

The chaotic way: A weekly thread would be created where people could suggest & discuss articles that they would like to see expanded. Later a poll would be created where users could vote for the most popular articles mentioned.

This is just an idea I have been throwing around. Tell me what you think.

[bored2k]

We have enough troubles getting all the "manwork" together to work for Ubuntu's own wiki . Of course, I'm not saying that we shouldn't help Wikipedia, but my priorities tell me we need to help ourselves first.. Answer? No.

[lotusleaf]

we need to help ourselves first.. Answer? No

Agreed

[panickedthumb]

while I adore Wikipedia and think that people should contribute and help out where needed, I don't think it's something the forums should concentrate on. It's not totally unrelated, but it's unrelated enough to not warrant a forum project on it.

[gruepig]

If you want to contribute to wikipedia, go for it! I do, and I suspect a lot of others do as well. But I'm not seeing how it relates to the ubuntu forums.

[bored2k]

Exactly. Yesterday I helped with the *cough*Gilmore Girls wiki*cough*, but not because I planned it.. it just occurred. Our wiki needs our help.

[ubuntu27]

Oops! I voted Yes in the poll, thinking it was talking about Ubuntu's OWN wiki.

Yeah, I agree with you bros.
And let me use that exact words that Bored said:

We have enough troubles getting all the "manwork" together to work for Ubuntu's own wiki . Of course, I'm not saying that we shouldn't help Wikipedia, but my priorities tell me we need to help ourselves first.. Answer? No.

But, I think that if any of us have time and will want to expand Ubuntu in a meaning to get more users, I think it is a good idea to contribute to Wikipedia. The more people get to know about Ubuntu [By reading articles related to Ubuntu], their interest may grow, and they could be converted.

[benplaut]

i agree with all of those above... Ubuntu's Wiki needs love, first

[BWF89]

I just thought that if we got enough people onboard that this would be something fun for the community to do.

[bored2k]

I just thought that if we got enough people onboard that this would be something fun for the community to do.
Improving the Ubuntu Wiki can be fun and education too ;).

[Lovechild]

Why would anyone be against anyone improving Wikipedia?

[bored2k]

We are not against it. Our point is, OUR Wiki needs help.

[Lovechild]

My point was, I don't especially care who improves Wikipedia (or any wiki) as long as they are qualified.

If someone feels like doing some work, even on the Gilmore girls wiki, they should do it.

Now excuse me while I go figure out what to add to the proactive security BOF page.

[brentoboy]

Because these forums get way more action than the wiki does, I think the ubuntu wiki would seriously benefit from a forum of its own where people throw out ideas for the wiki. I think a lot of people avoid editing the wiki or adding to it becuase it seems so... official, and lasting. And they feel like they are unquialifed to modify it.

But, if there were a few brave warriors who would be willing to do the wiki-ing and the rest of us could interact on a forum, I think a lot could be added to the wiki that would otherwize get left out.

Lets do exactly what BWF89 suggests, right here.

so, orderly or chaotic?
what is a good way to get started, maybe an invitation to post outdated wikipages, and mention what they need, and how they could be enhanced.

Does this belong in one of the existing forums? or should it be a new one.

While we are at it, I think people have the same fear of contacting the developers... because they dont want to burden them with repeated requests for things, and they fear doing it wrong and looking foolish. It would be nice if there was a forum for developer feedback, that developers didnt look at themselves, but a few "brave souls" would look them over and gleen the good stuff and pass it on.

[zenwhen]

Why would anyone be against anyone improving Wikipedia?

Wikipedia needs far more improvment than 100 UbuntuForums could provide. I am not against anyone helping, myself. I just don't think we should pool and waste our efforts.

[linbetwin]

Why not help Ubuntu get a better help system?

[majikstreet]

I think whoever wants to help Wikipedia, go ahead.......

It would be nice to improve the ubuntuwiki as a project..


-m

[brentoboy]

sounds like there are plenty of ubuntu-wiki supporters who would prefer a forum based discussion rather than editing it themselves, could we get some direction from the "moderator's that be" about organizing this sort of thing.

I'd be happy to play a role in the maintenance of something like this. How much time/frequency commitment is required here to help out.

Are there any other volunteers - either potential idea/info contributors, or moderator types... etc.

Show of hands... those in favor ...

[majikstreet]

sounds like there are plenty of ubuntu-wiki supporters who would prefer a forum based discussion rather than editing it themselves, could we get some direction from the "moderator's that be" about organizing this sort of thing.

I'd be happy to play a role in the maintenance of something like this. How much time/frequency commitment is required here to help out.

Are there any other volunteers - either potential idea/info contributors, or moderator types... etc.

Show of hands... those in favor ...
I concur!

[xequence]

I think its a good idea, if its something to do with technology/open source/linux.

[Ride Jib]

UbuntuWiki first.

Besides, putting a specific topic out for everyone to concentrate on, in my opinion wilil cause a lot of misinformation. Message forums have a tendency of people posting without thinking. A lot of people will quickly post up something they aren't well informed on, and not think twice about it. Not something you want to do to a widely used and relied upon resource.

[jnoreiko]

We have enough troubles getting all the "manwork" together to work for Ubuntu's own wiki . Of course, I'm not saying that we shouldn't help Wikipedia, but my priorities tell me we need to help ourselves first.. Answer? No.

Our wiki has a problem: saving pages takes several minutes.
That's not wiki, that's... slowy? ;)
It's the number one reason I don't edit it very often. Heck, it's the only reason.

What we could do is improve our wiki, and copy or move material to wikipedia when it's general to linux and written in an encyclopedia-type way, eg if our wiki had a page explaining what a window manager is and what it does.

[brentoboy]

if y'all want to start a forum for discussing and refining the ubuntu wiki, I posted a request in the website discussion forum here

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=81666

chime in there so that the moderators of that forum will know we have a critical mass that is willing to work on the project.

[ubuntu_demon]

We have enough troubles getting all the "manwork" together to work for Ubuntu's own wiki . Of course, I'm not saying that we shouldn't help Wikipedia, but my priorities tell me we need to help ourselves first.. Answer? No.

I agree. Let's focus our energy on the wiki and the forums.

[brallan]

I myself wondered if this question was a comment on the rather sorry state of the official wiki, ie - if it was asking - should we merely abandon our own wiki and work on theirs which is in a better state (and IMHO better software)? But then I realized that there's some questions that Wikipedia is not really in the business of answering. It's not going to be able to specialize in distro-specific issues. And while it's good at answering Who, What, Where, When, it lacks How, which is really the focus of most of the collective knowledge we're accumulating here in the forums.