Ubuntu wiki, admin assistance required

[Tony Yarusso]

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James Taji wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I have been doing a lot of editing on the documentation wiki
> lately, a couple of pages rewritten a lot of grammar, spelling, and
> formatting type cleanup. Also I have occasionally been moving some
> pages from the main wiki to the doc wiki as requested and listed
> here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CategoryDocumentation
>
> I moved the page https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AmateurRadio and it's
> subpages and made proper redirects (
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AmateurRadio?action=diff&rev2=13&rev1=12 ).
>  These pages contain lists of Linux software available through
> Synaptic related to Amateur Radio activities, were
> CategoryDocumentation and clearly belong in the doc wiki.
>
> Now I have been contacted via email by the original author of those
>  pages who is very upset at these actions. We emailed back and
> forth a few times and I tried nicely to explain the collaborative
> nature of wikis and the relevant information about the main wiki
> and doc wiki, but he does not understand. The gist of it is
> contained in his recent edit to the page:
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/AmateurRadio?action=recall&rev=17
>
> Fearing a editing war or some sort of conflict, I am not touching
> these pages anymore and leave it up to the admins.
>
> Thanks James Taji
*My* observations:

It looks like he actually accessed the page while you were making your
edits, which seems to have caused a fair amount of the confusion.  I
am assuming this from the phrase "he moved them today and the original
wiki is blank with no message or link regarding the move."  How much
time was there between your moving of the page and getting the
redirects working?

I very seriously doubt that the user actually did not know how to use
a wiki.  In the age of Wikipedia being mentioned on the evening news,
I would find it very surprising to find someone familiar with Ubuntu
but not the concept of a wiki.  I am therefore forced to believe that
all of the stuff regarding not being provided with a manual for the
wiki is a CYA move to try to justify the rest of the response.  I'm
sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's how it appears to me at this time.

Regarding the last paragraph, NOWHERE on the existing pages was it
claimed that the pages belonged to any sort of established "project"
with KB3IMT as its project lead.  Additionally, nowhere on the Ubuntu
Wiki is there any indication that it operates under the same
assumptions and character as the "Amateur Radio community", nor an
established existing relationship with such.

Interestingly, the author notes that "The front page of both the Wiki
and the Help site read as if for developers only or for the Operating
System only."  However, after looking through the content of the pages
that had been created, the only things I see related to Ubuntu are the
output of an 'apt-cache search'.  In no instance is there actual
documentation about how these tools can be used on Ubuntu, or in many
cases even what they do, but rather a mere laundry-list that is not at
all conducive to useful documentation, and IMO does not even belong on
the wiki in the first place if it does not have accompanying
directions, examples, and usage cases.  As it exists now, there is no
documentation written, only lists posted, as well as information about
the general topic that would be more appropriate on a site such as
Wikipedia than one that is supposed to be about Ubuntu.  Additionally,
I have no idea how "Welcome to the community documentation for Ubuntu,
created by users just like you!" or "Welcome to the *Ubuntu Team
Wiki*, a place for the Ubuntu community to discuss ideas and store
team-related information.  You can edit almost all of the pages on
this site. For more information on editing, see Help on Editing
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpOnEditing>. Please observe the Ubuntu
Code of Conduct <http://www.ubuntu.com/community/conduct> at all
times." could possibly be construed as for developers only, so we are
left with only the belief that it should be about Ubuntu, which is
true (or at least it should be _tangentially_ applicable, with some
relevant useful info).

Regarding the existence of a manual,
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WikiGuide is clearly linked to from
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/, with the text "Please read the
Wiki Guide <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WikiGuide> before making
any edits. Thanks."  Additionally, the bottom of this page clearly
states who to contact with questions, or in this case, for dispute
resolution, rather than creating useless whine pages in the documentation.

I apologize if this comes off as overly critical, but I must say that
I am disappointed in both the quality and completeness of the original
content created and the conduct of the user involved, so I have a hard
time feeling any pity in that direction.

***THAT SAID:***

I do have a personal interest in amateur radio, being the proud owner
of a Grundig world band receiver and having tinkered with the idea of
investing in a shortwave transmitter some day, as well as maybe
becoming involved in more local HAM activities, in particular the
SkyWatch severe weather warning system.  For this reason I am happy to
see a section created on h.u.c for how Ubuntu may be used in this
field, but two things will need to happen.  First, the content will
have to be drastically improved and expanded in order to be of any
use, as well as shifting focus and tone more towards how things relate
to Ubuntu and how to use software to accomplish your radio-related
goals, with links to other sources (Wikipedia, local amateur radio
clubs, the American Radio Relay League, the SKYWARN National Home
Page, Passport to World Band Radio, etc.) where appropriate.  Second,
there either needs to be a recognized team established for this
purpose, with a legitimately and democratically recognized leader if
any at all (and I doubt the current user would be best-suited for this
kind of role), or an education session with the particular user
claiming ownership of the pages on wikiettiquette and general
practices, until they can collaborate in a wiki-like nature with others.

Here's hoping for an eventual resolution,
Tony
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