Wikipedia:WikipediaWeekly/Episode 84

Episode 84: Farewell Brion Vibber October 2

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Participants:

• Brion Vibber
• Liam Wyatt (Witty Lama)

Discussion Topics

Part 1:

Flagged revisions; MediaWiki’s relationship with business; his decision to move to StatusNet; the emerging role of open data standards; the relationship between community and technology; the search for his replacement(s); what the software looked like when he first arrived and how it developed. (continued in part 2).

Part 2:

Second half of the interview with Brion. We discuss: the history of MediaWiki "phase 3"; the API; his biggest mistake (not having SUL earlier); how to make decisions without consensus for change; improving the template interface; a new release from the usability team; LiquidThreads; problems looming in hardware and software; whether we've gone from innovative to 'stuck'; learning how to learn; and what he has gotten out of being a Wikimedian.