Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/31 October 2011/Blue Screen of Death

What is the dispute?
The main dispute is over. This section, which is a HUGE list of error codes and their messages is in violation of WP:NOTEVERYTHING.

However, User:Lostinlodos and User:81.96.56.163 have contested its deletion. Their reasons – as far as I can perceive – are "I like it" and "It is useful". For more details, see. No consensus is formed.

What steps have you already taken to try and resolve the dispute?
Discussed the issue in talk page, which has ended up in deadlock.

What issues needs to be addressed to help resolve the dispute
This question needs to be answered and actioned: Must we delete the List of errors of must we keep it?

What can we do to help resolve this issue?
Well, since I am one of the parties, I perhaps am not in a position to answer this question. But if you want my answer, (just for the sake of record-keeping) I think one should compel the opposing parties not to oppose one of the five pillars of Wikipedia. It sounds non-neutral? Well, what else I can possibly say?

Mediator notes
-- Scjessey (talk) 13:44, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
 * 1) All parties mentioned above should be informed of this request for informal mediation.
 * 2) Parties should indicate in the "discussion" section below whether or not they agree to accept my mediation.

Perhaps it would be enough to have List of error codes in a "see also" section? -- Scjessey (talk) 14:05, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

Discussion
Er, I don't quite understand: Should I invite the involved parties NOW, or should I wait for a mediator before calling them? Fleet Command (talk) 08:33, 31 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm not really sure what this is or how it works, so I'll just state my 2 cents worth until I can figure out what is being asked from me.  I've never hid from the fact that I'm an inclusionist. That said; I also fully agree with Not Everything. My primary statement to that page was that it's linked to heavily both on and off site. While I don't, necessary think it it's Wikipedia's place to maintain off-site links; there is a commonly mentioned unofficial rule of Don't Break The Internets. Both from Google search and Microsoft's own MSDN forums link to this page. For a quick look, lets try this internal link: Special:WhatLinksHere/Blue_Screen_of_Death. So here's my suggestion to make all parties happy. How about we first spin this section off to a pedia LIST page and I'll peg it with a google search AND add it to the Web History Repository which is used to load cached dead pages. After about a week I could move to the partner site TextBook with a permalink redirect here and a permaprotect on creation/recreation after about two weeks from there? My goal in statement wasn't to 'keep it all' per say; rather to abide by that rule of Don't Break The Internets. Hope this is helpful and it it's in the wrong place, section, et al feel free, moderator, to fix my mess here. =) Lostinlodos (talk) 16:36, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
 * It is my understanding from the information given above that there is nothing wrong with having an article "Blue Screen of Death", but rather the problem is the inclusion of a long list of error codes within the article. Have I misunderstood? -- Scjessey (talk) 17:53, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
 * As far as anyone mentioned on talk pages it was just the list that was at odds. I may be wrong and have misunderstood, but that was my impressionLostinlodos (talk) 22:02, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
 * So why are you talking about "Don't Break The Internets" then? Any site linking to the article will still get the article, regardless of whether or not the list of errors remains. -- Scjessey (talk) 23:24, 1 November 2011 (UTC)
 * It is indeed the huge list that is disputed, not anything else in the article. I believe the list can safely be removed while the following link seen in the article serves its purpose:
 * As for the suggestion of Lostinlodos, regarding moving the list to another article in Wikipedia, the main problem remains: WP:NOTEVERYTHING still does not seem to agree with it.
 * As for the suggestion of Lostinlodos, regarding moving the list to another article in Wikipedia, the main problem remains: WP:NOTEVERYTHING still does not seem to agree with it.


 * As for moving the list to a sister project, like Wikibooks, I have, not a policy-based objection, but rather a common sense objection: Moving the list there exposes it to the risk of disrepair. It is my belief that the list on Microsoft website has a much greater probability of being actively maintained, than the one hosted on Wikibooks or even Wikipedia.


 * Despite my objections, I am unwilling to actively contest splitting the article or using the list maintained on Wikibooks. (But as for keeping the list inside the article, well, why do you think I am here?) Fleet Command (talk) 05:27, 2 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Actually I see from the link above that there is already a page on Wikibooks. Seeing that; I ask for 48 Hours to double check the pages' inclusions between the two wiki locations and I will then delete the list on BSOD with a permalink under external links. That will also allow me time to submit this current page to the wayback machine and the history repository. Any objections? Lostinlodos (talk) 15:50, 2 November 2011 (UTC)


 * If we take a look at the page Special:WhatLinksHere/Blue Screen of Death. You can see that most of these link the page here for the errors. and as said on the talk page. A list does not break WPNOTADICTIONARY. 81.96.56.163 (talk) 16:26, 2 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I think WP:INDISCRIMINATE is more pertinent here. -- Scjessey (talk) 16:52, 2 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, they are not mutually exclusive; they partly overlap. The list falls somewhere in the overlapping area of WP:NOTEVERYTHING, WP:NOTGUIDE and WP:INDISCRIMINATE. But there is no question in that even TransporterMan supports its removal; all of us know that this list is inappropriate because of its excessive details. I am sure none of us are ready to bet that this list will go uncontested in a Good Article proposal.


 * Don't let words play tricks on you: WP:NOT explicitly says: "Wikipedia articles are not ... a complete exposition of all possible details. Treat verifiable and sourced statements with appropriate weight."


 * This list surely fails to comply with WP:NOTDIR, clause #1. It is a list of loosely associated error messages. The only similarity between these error messages is that they are displayed on a blue screen. Their cause, their context, their remedy, their probability of occurring, they all differ. Fleet Command (talk) 23:16, 2 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Seeing as how the only party who wants this kept in the article indefinitely is an IP; and I've completed my interest in it with saving and caching I'm going to go ahead and remove it. If anyone with a verified account wishes to contest that; feel free to revert that. Lostinlodos (talk) 20:42, 3 November 2011 (UTC)


 * This seems to be an acceptable solution. On this basis, shall I mark the case as closed? -- Scjessey (talk) 21:34, 3 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't see why not; 'though with one request. Assuming you're an admin, I would suggest a partial edit lock of Semi-protection inorder to keep IPs from modifying this for a short time. Lostinlodos (talk) 22:47, 3 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm not an administrator. Also, I'm not going to close this case until FleetCommand has agreed. -- Scjessey (talk) 00:23, 4 November 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm good. Thanks, everyone, for participating. Regards, Fleet Command (talk) 07:11, 5 November 2011 (UTC)


 * There is no reason to remove this, It does not fit into any WP's to remove it as such it should stay. Joshposh70 (talk) 23:06, 6 November 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry, but this case is closed. A consensus was reached for the removal of the list of error codes during this process. -- Scjessey (talk) 13:26, 7 November 2011 (UTC)