Let’s say someone created a Wikipedia clone with Activitypub support, so you can freely read and edit articles on other servers. Basically the same way that Lemmy works. What would be a good name for such a project? Bonus points if the name goes with a cute animal mascot.

Edit: Here you can see the names of existing Fediverse projects.

  • kavin@feddit.rocks
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    11 months ago

    Here’s some that I thought about:

    • Wikipub
    • Wikihive (A bee mascot)
    • Academoo (A cow mascot)
    • LinkLynx (A lynx with a magnifying glass maybe?)
    • Encyclonet
  • hallettj@beehaw.org
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    11 months ago

    Allow me to share, Federated Wiki. I don’t think it uses ActivityPub, but otherwise I think it’s close to what you described. Instead of letting anyone edit articles it uses more of a fork & pull request model.

    • nutomic@lemmy.mlOP
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      11 months ago

      Yes I saw this before. However the structure is quite confusing and not at all like Wikipedia. From what I can tell it also doesnt federate that well.

  • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    Some ideas: Fediwiki, Wikiverse, PlanetWiki…

    But its also a good idea to use codenames and go with an animal mascot like we did with lemmy, because you never know if the scope of your project will change (either limiting it, or expanding it).

    Also fediverse.observer has a bigger list of software.

  • Mishmash2000@lemmy.nz
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    11 months ago

    Kleiopedia. Named after Kleio the Greek muse of History. Alternate spelling derived from her Latin spelling is Cliopedia but I personally prefer Kleiopedia. She was often depicted with a scroll or a chest full of books.

  • Margot Robbie@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    I like “Escargot”, because snails are cute and it rhymes with “Margot”.

    🐌

    I’ve expressed this before, but there needs to be a federated alternative to challenge Fandom, especially after they bought out every single independent wiki like Memory-Alpha and WowWiki, and then filled them with ads.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    Have loads of different encyclopedias, each with their own “truth” that differs from everyone else. What could possibly go wrong?

  • fishos@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    As it stands now, you can download all of Wikipedia for offline viewing. It’s not restricted in any way. And since Wikipedia is looking for objective truth, not opinions, I’m not sure what benefit federation would do. You want it centralized, not broken up. What happens when two instances decide that their version is the only correct one?

    I just don’t see any benefit. This feels like when everyone was slapping “blockchain” on things because it was the current buzzword. What is Wikipedia failing at currently that decentralizing it would make better?

    • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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      11 months ago

      What is Wikipedia failing at currently that decentralizing it would make better?

      Just like reddit (and many other services), its a centralized US-based service, has a history of scandals and conflicts of interest, has ties to the US state department, and is dominated by a small group of editors (despite its perception as being a universal unbiased knowledge store).

      There’s definitely a need to decentralize knowledge, move it away from US control, and allow the collaboration that activitypub provides.

      • fishos@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Federation, by it’s very nature, is “if I don’t like you, I can just make my own instance and do whatever I want”. How will you find objective truth when people can’t even agree within their own country? You really think we won’t just end up with LeftyWiki and RightyWiki and CommieWiki and FacistWiki? Because federated code would encourage this. You’re literally adding problems when your problem is people based, not code based.

        • nutomic@lemmy.mlOP
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          11 months ago

          There are plenty of Wikipedia articles which are not objective, particularly when it comes to politics or history. Of course federation means there would be many different wikis. That makes sense, for example different countries should have their own independent wikis, instead of using one controlled by a different nation.

          • fishos@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Yes, we can have a US wiki, a Russia Wiki, a China Wiki, a North Korea Wiki, and none of them will agree with each other and you will have reduced an encyclopedia into worthless anecdotes and opinions.

      • saigot@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        Those seem to be the same criticism almost everyone levels at the org, and that are more or less intrinsic to an open platform. mainly that anyone can edit it. How does federation solve these issues, seems to me it would make them much much worse.

        • fishos@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Dude admitted higher up that it’s not the code, it’s the people in charge who are the problem. So all they’re really advocating for is starting their own Wikipedia. But of course, theirs will be “the real truth” when in actuality we will just end up with another version.

          Relevant XKCD

      • fishos@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Let’s pretend I agree with the article. You’d still be in the same boat with a federalized wiki. It’d still be hundreds of thousands of volunteer contributors, and that’s where all the corruption supposedly lies. Except now it’s broken up amongst many many many places, and moderation is that much harder now. So, for the upteenth time, what exactly is Wikipedia THE PLATFORM failing at, and why is the fediverse a solution to that specific problem? What part of wikipedias code or implementation is broken and what will the equivalent federated code/setup look like to combat this? Because if you’re just going to point to corrupt people, I have a whole world for you to take a look at. Corruption isn’t a uniquely Wikipedia problem and isn’t caused by their code.

        • nutomic@lemmy.mlOP
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          11 months ago

          It sounds like you didn’t read the article at all, because it clearly explains how Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales himself is involved in many such cases of corruption and manipulation. The code is not the problem, but the fact that a single organization has full control over the site and can decide which contributions get accepted or rejected.

          • fishos@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            So, you STILL HAVENT ANSWERED MY QUESTION.

            What part of wikipedias code or implementation is the problem? And how will the fediverse solve this?

            IF dude is corrupt, what’s to stop the next fediwiki from being corrupt too? After all, since it’s federated, if I don’t like your “facts”, I can just defederate and spread my own “facts”.

            So maybe do some reading of your own and answer my question. What’s wrong with the Wikipedia CODE that federated CODE will solve and how? Otherwise all you’re really advocating for is starting your own Wikipedia, and no one is stopping you.

            This is just “old thing + new buzzword”.

            • nutomic@lemmy.mlOP
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              11 months ago

              I bet a year ago you would have said the exact same things about Lemmy, and yet here you are.

              • fishos@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                I understand the difference between a centralized and decentralized service. I WANT Wikipedia to be centralized. I’ve said that since the beginning. Objective truth has no business being splintered up.