You've gotta help Wikipedia

[old man emu]

Wikipedia's purpose is to benefit readers by containing information on all branches of knowledge. Hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, it consists of freely editable content, whose articles also have numerous links to guide readers to more information. I'd be more of a fool than I am if I didn't have access to Wikipedia.

 

It is a free to use facility that augments the search for information on the Internet. Notice that it is FREE, but there is no such thing as a free lunch. The organisation that runs Wikipedia has to pay for things like server usage and some administration, although contributions and editing is done by volunteers. Wikipedia doesn't interrupt your enquiries with unwanted ads, which would pay for its continued presence on the 'Net. At present they are asking for donations from its users.

 

I think that it is only right to make a donation to keep this facility available. I've just made a $10.00 donation. I urge you to do the same. Not much for one person, but pennies make pounds.

[old man emu]

Hey Ian!

 

How can I make a small donation towards the running of this site?

[facthunter]

ONLY 2% of Wiki users pay anything. Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

They are not poor, though..  if you look at finances here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation

 

I still kick in a few $.

 

For this site, I pay my rec.aviation gold membership 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Jerry_Atrick

[willedoo]

On 25/10/2023 at 7:10 PM, old man emu said:

Wikipedia has to pay for things like server usage and some administration, although contributions and editing is done by volunteers

Anyone can create Wikipedia content. All you have to do is create an account, sign in and start typing. Before they make it public it gets checked out by Wiki people who I guess are volunteers. The main caveats are that you can't write about a relative or family member and content must be of reasonable public interest. It stops people from creating a Wiki page about their dog. As far as I know, anyone with a Wiki account can edit your content. There's a lot of good Wiki content and a certain amount of dodgy stuff. The best way to check is to check out the references. Sometimes a reference is given and when you check the reference, all it is is a dodgy newspaper article by some hack with no verifiable sources. As long as you reference, Wikipedia is happy. They don't seem too fussy about the quality of the references. But luckily, most content is fairly accurate.

 

I started on a Wiki page a few years back, but the project stalled and it never got completed. I'll get back on to it one day.

[facthunter]

You often get referred to it anyhow. There's more to spend money on here than I get, but I've still found a bit to give Wikipedia. Unlike most other references they are NOT trying to deceive you and you are warned of non verified content..  Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

I find that even when people do put dodgy stuff up, it tends not to stay long as there are enough passionate people about most subjects (at least what I search) that they want to ensure the record is correct.

 

There was a bloke I worked with who was a passionate mathematician - and he was always updating a set of pages he had a keen interest in.

[red750]

I use Wikipedia, among other sources, for my aircraft profiles, so I, too, kicked in $10. I may also do again, when I'm a bit more solvent.

[facthunter]

FREE BEER tomorrow. I think it's downhill from here, Peter.  Make the most of it. The medical fraternity get a lot of my "surplus". Thats what the cost of the" DOGS" leave over..   Nev