Wikivoyage
I have been a contributor on Wikitravel for a long time now. I was not too worried when Wikitravel was bought by Internet Brands (which has already shown interest in buying CouchSurfing). But I have been annoyed by the lack of database dumps at Wikitravel for a long time now. So I was very happy to stumble upon an alternative: Wikivoyage.
The project was set up by disgruntled admins of the German version of Wikitravel. I haven't gone into the gory details, but it could be more than the lack of database dumps. My wild guess is that there was a cultural misunderstanding between Wikitravel, that was founded with an SF Bay Area Burning Man culture, and the Europeans dealing with policies created by them. It's funny to see some more parallels here with CouchSurfing but ortunately Wikitravel was already a lot more open (using Creative Commons and mostly open means of communication) than CS so forking was quite easy.
Now let's see if a little bit more pressure will induce Internet Brands to make the dumps available.
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Comments
Out of curiosity, are the
Out of curiosity, are the database dumps the only thing driving you to Wikivoyage, or do you have other problems with IB? Have you actually tried requesting an XML dump through IB's process?
My opinion is that Wikivoyage is good to have as a backup, but so far IB has been doing a pretty good job, so I don't see a need to fork.
Cheers,
-j. (and please feel free to email)
I first requested a dump in
I first requested a dump in 2004. I have been personally in touch with Evan about this issue. So after 3 years of waiting, I don't really feel like requesting through IB's process. I would just like to see an automized process to provide weekly database dumps, available for everyone (just like it's done on Wikipedia, Wikia, or Hitchwiki).
Apart from that, I don't have any specific issues with IB, but I also haven't really investigated the company. I had some doubts about the way some things work within Wikitravel, but I also experienced positive change due to some simple action (i.e. starting versions in other languages).
I do, out of sheer principle, have more sympathy for and trust in a non-profit organization though. (In the US, that means one with irrevocable dedication to charity in its bylaws, like the Wikimedia Foundation.)
cheers,
Kasper
Hmm, considering current
Hmm, considering current state of affairs in both WikiTravel and CouchSurfing - maybe they should partner up to provide free (as in Burning Man) platform for all things travel? ;)
Playing the devil's advocate a bit, but there were some rumors of Internet Brands having shown interest in acquiring CouchSurfing already when the future of CouchSurfing was hanging by a thread; it's only matter of Casey holding onto his personal promises made to people, including me personally not too long ago, if this will eventually happen. Not claiming it will, but it's a possibility most certainly in the interest of Internet Brands.
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