Happy Brooke Vibber day!

Today I am publishing, in full, an interview I did with @bvibber back in 2021 about the history of #Wikipedia and #MediaWiki.

https://blog.legoktm.com/2026/06/01/interview-with-brooke-vibber-2021.html

Topics covered include: aversion to change, BDFLs, #PHP, whether MediaWiki should RIIR, and more!

A few parts of this interview were published in the Signpost at the time, but most didn't make the cut solely for space reasons. So in light of recent events, I was looking back and thought it was still worth publishing.

Wikipedia, and the entire Wikimedia movement, has been a democratic, anti-authoritarian experiment since the day of its inception.

It's a project that matters, something I've been proud to have made a career of.

I spent my 20 years at the Wikimedia Foundation trying to further that experiment on a professional basis, and I have never been prouder of my former colleagues at WMF than I have been these past few months as we've been making @wwu a reality.

You should organize your workplace too.

Hey all - first, thanks tremendously for all of your support. It means the world.

Second, we've understandably received some questions on here. Consider this post a temporary placeholder for "there's stuff we can't discuss right now and we're still figuring out what some of that is" reasons, but we'll aim to put up a few clarifying posts shortly.

(Edit: For some values of "shortly". We've got a lot on our collective plate right now. Thanks for your patience! ✊)

Thinking of cancelling your Wikipedia donation? Don’t. Read this first. You’re right to be furious about the layoffs, but walking away sends exactly the wrong message.

https://medium.com/@jakeorlowitz/thinking-of-cancelling-your-wikipedia-donation-dont-read-this-first-228f1984ed23

#Wikipedia

Hundreds of prolific Wikipedia editors are threatening to go on strike
https://www.theverge.com/report/939442/wikipedia-editors-protest-wikimedia-layoffs-strike?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into The Verge @the-verge-theverge

Hello, world!

We're Wiki Workers United, a global solidarity union for the staff of the Wikimedia Foundation.

This account will share updates on our organizing effort, relevant news/info, and maybe the occasional meme. We promise to keep posting volume reasonably chill.

More info here:

https://wikiworkersunited.org

And we welcome the community to express support here:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Workers_United

#Introduction

From LB: "In ten days last month, the Wikimedia Foundation fired the longtime lead developer of MediaWiki and disbanded the team whose entire job was to listen to volunteers. Most of the people they fired were union organizers. Wikipedia’s editors are now threatening to strike....

The Foundation has spent twenty years telling donors it is not like other tech companies. The union drive is the moment when that claim either becomes true or admits it was always marketing." https://medium.com/@jakeorlowitz/wikipedia-is-doing-the-capitalist-thing-56a393232943