this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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As it stands now, you can download all of Wikipedia for offline viewing. It's not restricted in any way. And since Wikipedia is looking for objective truth, not opinions, I'm not sure what benefit federation would do. You want it centralized, not broken up. What happens when two instances decide that their version is the only correct one?
I just don't see any benefit. This feels like when everyone was slapping "blockchain" on things because it was the current buzzword. What is Wikipedia failing at currently that decentralizing it would make better?
Just like reddit (and many other services), its a centralized US-based service, has a history of scandals and conflicts of interest, has ties to the US state department, and is dominated by a small group of editors (despite its perception as being a universal unbiased knowledge store).
There's definitely a need to decentralize knowledge, move it away from US control, and allow the collaboration that activitypub provides.
I agree, that's a big issue. The US regime hires people to influence the Wikipedia organization, they choose the "reliable news sources", mark some news outlets as fake news, and they edit articles about wars and so on to disseminate their propaganda. Also, the PATRIOT Act... As I wrote a couple months ago, we should end digital colonialism.
Scientific articles about math and stuff like that are fine.