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About assuming good faith

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki
(English) This is an essay. It expresses the opinions and ideas of some Wikimedians but may not have wide support. This is not policy on Meta, but it may be a policy or guideline on other Wikimedia projects. Feel free to update this page as needed, or use the discussion page to propose major changes.
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Frankly I've found all Wikimedia Engineering folks welcoming new contributions and design ideas; that people didn't or don't work together with them is ...their own fault. The WMF doesn't encourage them to do so, but it doesn't discourage either, where one has clear interest. (They are doing a lot of communication internally, but simply asking to do it externally works.)

The hostility is a consequence of the assume good faith principle: many contributors are used to being encouraged, valued, and honored, where they did not even show interest. This philosophy is rotten.

Never assume more or less faith than the situation warrants. Don't feel painful where someone doesn't come to you and consult you about everything he does for your wiki. If you want that to happen, just ask, or ask for a plan, and talk to your local wiki yourself. It isn't at all that hard.

You are welcome to join IRC channels dedicated to Engineering work and chat to any of the people involved about any concerns (including the multimedia team, #wikimedia-multimediaconnect, if you're concerned about the future of Media Viewer, and #wikimedia-teampracticesconnect to discuss how the relationship of their teams and community may be improved).