QUOTE(Ottava @ Tue 16th September 2008, 9:20am)
QUOTE(sarcasticidealist @ Tue 16th September 2008, 4:11pm)
Well, of course the WMF has had "involvement" with the project. They own the servers, pay the staff support, and hold the relevant copyrights (not of content, but of design, etc.). And yes, Cary Bass is an employee of the WMF, and his job description includes acting on the WMF's behalf, so no problems there.
But what does this have to do with Jimbo? He's not an employee or officer of the WMF, and I've seen no indication that he's authorized to wield the power of the WMF on Wikimedia projects. I'm not seeing the link you see between Cary and Jimbo.
Could someone with more experience (Alison, Lar, etc) explain to him the relationship? Or am I just way off base here?
No. Jimbo has no legal authority to do the things he's doing, except as the WMF board allow him to, without removing him. And those people are in the position of Roman Senators when confronted with a self-proclaimed dictator-for-like like Julius or Augustus Caesar. Or even a Nero. The question is, who is going to stab him first, and if one of us does, it had better be all of us. Because aborted plots get the first guys thrown out for treason, and then they're out. So everybody keeps his own council, and one day the praetorian guards themselves will have had enough, and Jimbo will be out on his ear.
And everybody in the outside world will be sooooo surprized then, just like when major corporations dump their CEOs. You know-- the ones that everyone on the board of directors had kissed up to, right up until the day before.
And Jimbo's not EVEN the CEO--- just an old director with a history. He the head of the army in his private little banana republic. Constitutionally, he's nowhere. But he can't be ignored, unless the government is prepared to banish him entirely. Think Pinochet (Grape Republic? (IMG:
smilys0b23ax56/default/smile.gif)). Anybody who stands up against him without everybody else doing so, is going to disappear.
This post has been edited by Milton Roe: