• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    96
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    Just ignore the 150M a year they spend managing finances, contributors, tech, moderation, etc. Takes a lot to maintain an accurate library.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      70
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      i dont think anyone is ignoring that. the meme is talking about how it was built, not how it’s currently maintained. it definitely didn’t start off spending that much. all that spending is a consequence of it’s popularity, not the reason for it.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        710 months ago

        Some would say that most of the spending is based on greed. Individual salaries doubled to tripled in the last decade, with their head earning three quarters of a million now.

        It was a tenth 15 years ago.

        They started out right, like they all do. Then personal money catches up.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          810 months ago

          You thinking a $750,000 salary for the CEO of one of the top ten visited websites in the world and arguably one of the most important knowledge resources we’ve probably ever created is ‘greed’ is pretty hilarious.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            610 months ago

            Thinking one guy deserves that much salary for the work of millions of volunteers over decades is what’s hilarious. Do you think those giant pleas that they post when they need money would be as convincing if they listed his salary?

            • @dr_lobotomy
              link
              English
              410 months ago

              What does that have to do with Wikipedia specifically?This isn’t a problem of wikipedia it’s a problem of capitalism

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            English
            1110 months ago

            I think you should consider the opportunity cost of what they would be making elsewhere. Salaries need to be competitive, otherwise you are at the mercy of those who are willing to work for less and hope that the reason is benevolent.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              310 months ago

              I don’t buy that argument at all, it just doesn’t make any sense for a position like Wikipedia. Sure, if you’re in a highly competitive and specialised industry where connections and insider information matters I would get it, but just running a “simple” organisation like Wikipedia, no way.

                • @[email protected]
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  610 months ago

                  Yes? And by simple I meant in the manner that it’s not a competitive company. They aren’t there to bring in the AI revolution or invent the next iPhone. Their primary goal is to just keep the servers running, not create record profits for shareholders.

                  High six figure salaries in general seems foreign to me. A core part of the nordic model is to limit wage gap between high education jobs and low education jobs, so the entire CEO wage structure in the US seems completely backwards.

                  • @[email protected]
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    210 months ago

                    It may seem foreign, but it is the state of things. $750k/yr for a $100mil non-profit CEO is about average.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              2
              edit-2
              10 months ago

              That would make more sense if Wikipedia was a profit generating enterprise that needed to satisfy shareholders. It’s run like a charity through donations, though.

              Fifteen other people sit on the board of trustees that oversees wikimedia. The only person on that board who gets paid is Jimmy.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11 month ago

          Aside from nagging a bit more often for donations, has the site gotten worse in any way as a result?

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      3410 months ago

      150m a year doesn’t seem that much, honestly. I know people think “oh, it’s just a website” but it takes a lot of work and money in salaries and infrastructure hosting to keep a web application as popular as Wikipedia up and running.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        5510 months ago

        I used to work for them. It was weird and wonderful and I miss it and I don’t. Lots of mission driven folks working hard to keep things going getting very little respect. But a lot of respect. But sometimes none.

        Iirc a lot of their budget is spent doing charity stuff. Encouraging contributions for tiny languages. Trying not to cave to Russia or the US or France. Trying to make it less of a boys club. Trying to get local organizations going.

        I remember once they sent an email that said “if the French government asks you to delete this page please just delete it. It’s not worth going to jail. Someone outside of France will revert the delete.”

        I wasn’t qualified for the work. No one was. But it was honest work.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          1010 months ago

          Thank you for your work, though!

          Very curious about the page French govt wanted deleted.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              English
              410 months ago

              Curious to read more about that but I can’t seem to find a source for it. Do you have one?

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                English
                910 months ago

                Certainly, here are some notable instances involving French colonial forces:

                1. Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962): This was a significant and violent decolonization conflict where Algerian nationalists sought independence from French colonial rule. The French military’s efforts to suppress the independence movement resulted in large numbers of casualties, including civilians. Tactics such as the use of torture, mass executions, and the creation of internment camps were reported. The exact number of Algerian casualties is disputed, but estimates suggest that the death toll could be in the range of hundreds of thousands.

                2. The Madagascar Uprising (1947): In Madagascar, a nationalist uprising against French colonial rule was met with severe repression. French forces were accused of committing numerous atrocities in their effort to suppress the rebellion, including summary executions, village burnings, and torture. Estimates of the Malagasy deaths vary widely, with some suggesting that the number could be as high as 100,000.

                3. Indochina War (1946–1954): This conflict in French Indochina, which includes modern-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, was fought between French colonial forces and the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh, who sought independence. The war was marked by guerrilla warfare and significant civilian casualties, with both sides accused of atrocities. The use of forced labor, internment camps, and the bombing of civilian areas contributed to a high death toll.

                These examples reflect the complex and often brutal nature of colonial rule and the struggle for independence. They involve a wide range of actions and policies implemented by French military and colonial authorities, which led to significant loss of life and suffering among the colonized populations.

                • @[email protected]
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  11 month ago

                  Please don’t use LLM-generated text to answer another lemming’s question.
                  Anyone can get that kind of answer themselves. And it would need manual fact-checking before you posted it anyway.
                  We’re here for human answers and interaction.

                • @[email protected]
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  110 months ago

                  The world should know that the french were monsters a while back. I hope they are not asking for censorship anymore

                  • @[email protected]
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    3
                    edit-2
                    10 months ago

                    I guarantee that the LePen crowd is still trying to whitewash their pasts as they push their nationalistic bullshit.