User talk:Jouster/open/VPP

Purpose of this page?
Jouster, please explain the purpose of creating this page. There appears to be no strong feeling in the VP thread that there is a significant issue to be addressed, and I do not understand why you have created a subpage in your userspace to complain about the content of another editor's page. I urge you to drop this matter before a negative perception arises about your pursuing it so vigorously. Regards, Newyorkbrad 17:51, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * To clarify: You're complaining about me using my userspace as I see fit to complain about people (ab)using their userspace as they see fit? And why, in the name of all that's holy, wouldn't you put this on the Talk page?  Jouster  (  whisper  ) 19:59, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * (1) I wasn't complaining about anything, I was asking a question. (2) Whatever the merits or lack of merits of the other user's use of userspace, the focus wasn't targeted upon another editor. (3) Since this page is itself in the nature of a discussion page, I routinely posted here, but feel free to transplant this thread to this page's talkpage, your user talkpage, or anywhere else you please. Regards, Newyorkbrad 20:09, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

(reindent) Hmm, perhaps I took your question the wrong way. Let me try again, with my apologies for the failure of my first try—the contentious issue is, to use your words, "pursuing [this issue] so vigorously". I take the ideals of open-source and democracy very, very seriously. As such, concepts that seem to abuse the notion of open discussion (see Requests_for_comment/Jeffrey_O._Gustafson_2, or any of my rants about decision-making occurring on IRC), open editability (Magnus' indefinite full-protection of his never-been-vandalized transcluded User subpages, Magnus, AzaToth, and others' obfuscation of their user pages' code), and open readability (click, my concerns about Magnus' Talk and User pages) get top billing. Thus, after all, my abortive attempt to gain election to the WikiMedia Board as the "average Joe" candidate; I can hardly be a member of the cabal if I have less than 1,000 edits, right? ;) And more importantly, I planned on working very, very hard to keep the Board, and all the projects under its purview, as transparent as possible.

At any rate, in the pursuit of these goals, I transcluded this page from its happy home in the VPP archives so I may use it to help craft an essay I intend to write regarding obfuscation and "prettification" propter se. The goal is not, and never was, a crusade against Magnus, though his page certainly alerted me to the extent of the issues at hand and the degree to which, in my opinion, the tide of WP:MYSPACEification of userspace is getting mighty, mighty high. Alas, a number of editors have misinterpreted my campaign against this sort of silliness as a campaign against Magnus himself. I can't blame them; he is my most common victim. But please do not be affected by the same blinders. Indeed, if you know of another user with a similarly-complex User page, please point me towards them, and I'd be happy to rant using them as an example, instead!

In sum, I feel that the principles that underly the third pillar of Wikipedia are being violated, at a number of levels, by the page-protection, code-obfuscation, and complex CSS and page structure I see in use on pages around me. If you do not wish to join my crusade, that is, of course, your prerogative. But pages like this one—where, even after being invited to do so, neither of the users I used as examples were willing to speak up in this practice's defense, and the only respondent agreed with my analysis—embolden me that I am not, perhaps, a lone wolf. If it turns out that I am, I will of course respect the consensus of my peer editors. It hardly makes sense to champion the principles of democracy and meritocracy and then unilaterally attempt to enforce my will on others. Jouster (  whisper  ) 01:58, 13 July 2007 (UTC)