3 ms·
The Internet Archive is also a profoundly worthwhile charity. But those of us with a little understanding of the space would be remiss to not point out that thi
by eropple 7y ago
The Internet Archive is also a profoundly worthwhile charity. But those of us with a little understanding of the space would be remiss to not point out that this article is dishonest and you're falling for it. It isn't uncommon for nonprofits (and Wikipedia is not only a nonprofit but is functionally infrastructure at this point; its survival is important beyond its own self-perpetuation) to try to build up an endowment in order to survive lean times. This is normal. You're falling for an okeydoke. Please don't.
- maehwasu 7y agoIf their actual goal was to build up an endowment to survive lean times, their spending profile would be quite different. That may be an ancillary goal of theirs, but it’s demonstrably not close to the primary one (in a revealed preference sense).
- Causality1 7y agoBuilding up an endowment is fine. Misleading me to think that Wikipedia is close to shutting down due to lack of funds is uncool. I don't care that they spend too much money; I care that they convinced me they're broke.
- joshuaissac 7y agoWhat exactly is dishonest about the article? The author's criticism is that the Wikimedia Foundation isn't building up its endowment fast enough, and that it instead uses the donations on frivolous spending.