A Beginning

This is going to be a rough beginning to offer opinions on the goings on with Wikibooks, the Wikimedia Foundation, and perhaps other things somewhat associated with the various goings-on with the free textbook movement, if you can call it a movement with just a handful of people.

I certainly offer my opinions on that is going with Wikibooks, but I'm posting here to offer a little bit of independence from Wikimedia servers, and perhaps to do some additional musing from time to time that clearly has a point of view that may seem a bit unorthodox.

At the moment, Wikibooks seems to have died down after going through a few months of massive changes in the nature of participants and administrative overhaul. Especially with the removal of the video game guides and Wikiversity. I'll certainly offer my opinions on both of those topics later on, but on the positive side Wikibooks seems to be a more mellow place now and considerably friendier to new users.

I've taken a Wikibreak as well, moving on to of all things, Wikipedia. That experience is interesting to say the least, especially when people are talking down to me like I am a totally clueless newbie. They also get an earful (or a strong rebuttal on talk pages) when that happens. I have some strong opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of Wikipedia, especially coming from somebody who is a sort of outsider to Wikipedia, but an "insider" for Wikimedia projects in general.

But my real love right now is writing books through a collaborative Wiki interface. I love the much more laid back attitude most participants have, as even the most extreme flamers on Wikipedia seem to calm down and deal with one another in a (generally) much more rational manner. That doesn't stop conflicts altogether, but those that do happen are more remarkable as a result.