[e-lang] [ofe-topic] broken window theory (Re: Wiki?)

[James Graves]

zooko at zooko.com wrote:

> By the way, Broken Window Theory may or may not explain problems in
> programming language wikis, but most sociologists now believe that it
> does not explain real crime rates and real windows.
> 
> The wikipedia article seems like a fair summary:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixing_Broken_Windows

Yeah, I don't know how valid the theory is in real life.

But the theory has a strong resonance with my life experience and my
personality.  Even with mundane stuff like how much clutter is in my
bedroom.  If I let things go, then things deteriorate quickly.  Books
and stuff start to pile up, and soon there are no flat surfaces left.  
Then the clutter-index tends to stay high for a long time afterwards.

It is psychologically easier for me to keep clean things clean.  But
we're not here to discuss how tidy I am.  :-)

In regards to wikis, it is important to establish a set of standards for
contributions.  Not so much whacking people over their heads about
violations; more just fixing the mistakes and showing people the right
way.  And having an easy way to revert edits goes a long way to making
the site easy to maintain by the community.

BTW, the link-back to erights.org for all the content is a good idea.  

James Graves