Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2006-07-02 QDB

Mediation Case: 2006-07-02 QDB
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Request Information

 * Request made by: Blaxthos 01:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

User Blaxthos
 * Where is the issue taking place?

qdb QDB Fixed capitalisation. --Konstable 00:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Who's involved?

user:markusbradley user:blaxthos
 * What's going on?

bash.org hosts (and has hosted for years) the IRC Quote Database. The project has always been called the QDB, and save for some odd niche database product in the 80's, bash.org has enjoyed almost exclusive use of the term. the site itself is very popular, and ususally pulls a few million pageloads a day (around 100k-200k unique hosts/day).

The inceptor of the project renounced all rights to the project sometime in 2002, and asked the current administrators to take over all aspects of the QDB project. We did, and turned it in into a very successful and well known internet phenomenon.

After we spent our time/money/energy making it a success, the original project member wanted to reclaim the project. We denied his request, and he set out to make his own QDB (which is fine with us), however he has tried all sorts of trickery to gain legitimacy (calling his project a "fork", constantly adding links to his project on the bash.org wiki page). His latest trick is to insist that qdb should not redirect to bash.org because he has a rival project he is now calling "The QDB".


 * ''What would you like to change about that?

bash.org has millions of pageloads a day, and is almost universally known among IRC users and other tech-savvy persons. The other projects have little traffic and almost no notariety, except for that sponged from association with the project that started it all.

We believe it should operate like the redir for NSA... sure, there are a lot of uses of the acronym NSA, however most people who type in "NSA" are looking for the National Security Agency.

It is our position that someone coming to wikipedia and seeking info on the QDB is actually interested in the site that is the original QDB, the site that coined the term, and the site that literally gets 99.999% of the users that use the QDB. I may not have a completely neutral point of view (because I am and have been the main admin of the site since sometime in 2002), however I think that my point is pretty logical and would be agreed upon.

We absolutely believe there should be an ambiguity notice at the top of the article, for people who may be seeking alternative uses of QDB, however we also believe that the QDB page should redir to the original and most generally accepted QDB project -- bash.org.

There is a little more descriptive info on the Talk: page of the QDB redir page.


 * Would you prefer we work discreetly? If so, how can we reach you?

Nah, not necessarily. I would like it noted that the original project member (who renounced the project and then asked for it back) makes a lot of noise and tries to cause us conflict at every turn. I have no doubt that the account that is starting the quarrel ("markusbradley") is an account created by him (or someone he recruited) for the express purpose of causing us problems. He has, in the past, created several accounts to try and give more credibility to his post facto project by making it seem like he has a large following.

There was an NPOV dispute a few years ago, but it was resolved (not without struggle) and I have since taken a much more wiki-centric worldview. That dispute was spearheaded by the disgruntled former project member, and we later heard that he gave a shell and some other goodies to the wiki guy who got involved and took up for him. Hope it doesn't work out like that this time. :-/

Sorry to take up your time on such a miniscule issue, but I appreciate your attention.

wikimail or blaxthos@bash.org is best. i tried to include all necessary info... lemme know how else i can help.

thanks again!

Mediator response
I will see if I can help. Discussion will take place at Talk:QDB.--Konstable 00:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)


 * This case needs a new mediator per comments at Wikipedia_talk:Mediation_Cabal/Cases. Cowman109 Talk 23:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Ok, never mind that. I'm no longer in need of a wikibreak.--Konstable 01:51, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Compromise offers
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