Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Linux

Mark As Inactive?

Am I wrong to view this project as inactive? According to the guide projects are generally considered inactive if the talk page has received nothing other than routine/automated announcements or unanswered queries for a year or more.
– Abuluntu ( talk 19:26, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

Abuluntu, I would find that a crying shame; there is plenty of Linux expertise to be had e.g. on the WP:RD, but if nobody wants to do the WikiProject I guess that's the way it will go. Elizium23 (talk) 20:26, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

Elizium23, agree. Still the project is rather confusing to a newcomer (myself included). Maybe it could be saved by a cleanup of the project pages? – – Abuluntu ( talk 20:42, 24 October 2020 (UTC)

I absolutely believe that the project must be kept active, therefore, please do not mark it as inactive. The reasons why are explained in my user talk page. - Fabio Maria De Francesco (talk) 05:48, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

I believe I was wrong to view this project as inactive. But it takes an effort to make it a hub for cooperation. The discussion seems to turn to whether it should be a project or a task force, or merged with WP:FOSS. WT:LINUX. – Abuluntu ( talk 11:17, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

Should we join WP:FOSS?

Should we join forces with our our sister project if they are willing to take us on? – Abuluntu ( talk 12:36, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

This project is already listed in related projects. There's no problem with joining forces, but I don't know how would that work – I believe they already edit articles related to Linux. Also, either I don't really understand how wikiprojects are supposed to work or there's not much for anybody to do here. This should be much more social experience. — Preceding unsigned comment added by K4rolB (talk • contribs) 18:20, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

The intention of projects are collaboration. If we set the status of this project as inactive there is less work to maintain the project pages, and anyone stopping by this place is encouraged to join the other project instead.– Abuluntu ( talk 19:23, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Can anyone think of a project that we can all get together and work on? --Guy Macon (talk) 08:14, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

or make WP:LINUX into a Task force

​​​Newslinger over at WP:FOSS suggested an option: we could make this place a task force? – Abuluntu ( talk 11:58, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

No need to ping me. I am watching this page.

I do like what I am seeing at WP:FOSS. Part of me says to copy what they are doing there, and part of me says to simply join them. Let me ask everyone here: how important is it that we have a separate project and/or task force working on Linux specifically as opposed to working on Linux as part of what WP:FOSS is doing? I personally spend an hour running BSD for every two hours I run Linux. --Guy Macon (talk) 12:30, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

I think that this wikiproject should join WP:FOSS. It will take time and effort to make this as well maintained and I think this effort could be put to make WP:FOSS a more lively space. I have a belief verging on certainty that 95% of Linux subjects are within FOSS scope, and the rest 5% is projects big enough to get interest from WP:SOFTWARE or WP:COMPUTING.
Interestingly, I've also found Wikipedia:WikiProject_Desktop_Linux which seems to be even more dead than this one, but maybe more diverging from FOSS, as it may naturally include gaming and other proprietary software. Point being, it will be more pragmatic, while FOSS is about software, but also movement, philosophy, civil liberties, and so on. K4rolB (talk) 13:07, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

The Linux kernel is FOSS. Let's move it there. In all seriousness, this project should move to FOSS as a task force. That makes the most sense to me. Most of the Linux ecosystem is FOSS, it's kernel is FOSS, and it's used extensively in all environments (e.g., by companies as servers, as PCs, Raspberry PI, etc.). As a taskforce under FOSS, we could use the existing governance of the FOSS project, have it guide our direction (since we don't appear to have on right now), and can garner interest from their existing contributors to help us out. -proxxz ^talk 15:18, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

​​My personal opinion is that having two projects/task forces creates more administration than necessary. – Abuluntu ( talk 12:36, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

I'm thinking that if we merge with WP:FOSS (which is really a task force of WP:SOFTWARE), it should be as another task force. This would allow us to preserve the current organization and tagging of Linux articles (the talk page banner can just wrap {{WP Software|linux=y}}), and maintains a Linux-specific venue in which to have coherent discussions. We would then be sister task forces under WP:SOFTWARE at that point, which would enable closer collaboration between the two. Status quo is fine as well — Linux is a large enough topic to warrant a WikiProject, even if it is a bit quiet in here. — AfroThundr ^{(u · t · c)} 03:15, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

To elaborate my views. It is a bit quiet in here. Of the 127 watchers of this site, about 7 has responded to my discussion of making it inactive. (Obviously it is a discussion of importance. I personally visited the user page of 117 of 202 participants on the list to inform them of the discussion.) I'm not a frequent user myself, but I think the project pages is overwhelming to any bypasser if its not more active and welcoming. People come to wikipedia to edit articles, not to take on immense administrative tasks. Does anyone have ideas how to make this project a tool of cooperation?

• A simple but maintained todolist is by far the most important task at this point.
• An updated participant list would encourage people to ask for help if they are bold. :-D

– Abuluntu ( talk 14:10, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

I think we stretch ourselves too wide. We should acknowledge that there are only a few of us, at least for some time, and maintaining many overlapping projects is too much work – as You said, no one wants to take on administrative tasks.
I think we should scale down and create a minimum viable product — double down on creating some movement here. I still believe that WP:FOSS is a better place to start, as it's already well-defined and structured so it feels easier to start it up. — K4rolB (talk) 14:50, 29 October 2020 (UTC)

An attempt to sum it up

7 users have given their opinion.

• Fabio Maria De Francesco Actively opposes marking WikiProject Linux as inactive. And suggests status quo.
• Elizium23 Passively opposes marking WikiProject Linux as inactive. But doesn't seem to stop it either.
• K4rolB and Proxxz Promotes joining The Foss task force, implying to mark this project as inactive.
• Abuluntu, AfroThundr and Guy Macon Promotes making this project a task force under WikiProject Software

Lack of consensus implies status quo, but nobody seems to oppose making WikiProject Linux into a taskforce. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If nobody objects within a week from now I'll go ahead and do it bit by bit.

Participants list

I’ve linked to a special page showing recently active users. The link is at the top of the participants page . It should be easier to find each other if thats of interest to anyone. – Abuluntu ( talk 19:20, 29 October 2020 (UTC)08:52, 30 October 2020 (UTC)