[OWW-SC] is there a language standard for OWW?

[Ilya Sytchev]

Basically, if we enforce English as a standard, we'd discriminate
against the minority and if not, we might be discriminating against the
majority.
There is also a precedent with Google's social networking site Orkut
where non-English speakers became the majority
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkut#Popularity_in_Brazil).
Still, I think we should not enforce but simply encourage the use of
English on the site.

Ilya

John Cumbers wrote:
>>I understand that some pieces of information could benefit from being
> translated to reach out some specific >communities, but I would say that
> the information should primarily be written in English.
> 
> I agree, I don't think that by supporting other languages we would be
> promoting non-english contributions, instead just providing for the
> provision of translation if somebody wants to do it.
> 
> cheers,
> John
> 
> On 6/7/07, *Vincent Rouilly* <vincent.rouilly at gmail.com
> <mailto:vincent.rouilly at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
>     As a non-native English speaker, I have never questioned the
>     need/use of a language standard to disseminate information amongst
>     the scientific community (de facto English for now).
>     I am not too sure how OWW can promote sharing of knowledge and
>     collaborative work if there is not a common ground in terms of
>     language.
> 
>     I understand that some pieces of information could benefit from
>     being translated to reach out some specific communities, but I would
>     say that the information should primarily be written in English.
>     If a common language is not picked, I have the feeling that the
>     emergence of different OWW language communities might undermine the
>     synergy of the wiki.
> 
>     best,
> 
>     Vincent.  
> 
> 
> 
>     On 6/7/07, *John Cumbers* < johncumbers at gmail.com
>     <mailto:johncumbers at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>         I don't think that there should be a language standard, but
>         perhaps we just turn on the language option that allows people
>         to add translations in other languages?  I wanted this option
>         when we were writing the wiki pages for the china workshops,
>         Best,
>         John
> 
> 
> 
>         On 5/30/07, *Drew Endy* < endy at mit.edu <mailto:endy at mit.edu>> wrote:
> 
>             http://openwetware.org/wiki/WenJianping
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> 
> 
>         -- 
>         John Cumbers,  Graduate Student
>         Biology and Medicine
>         Brown University, Box G-W
>         Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
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> 
> -- 
> John Cumbers,  Graduate Student
> Biology and Medicine
> Brown University, Box G-W
> Providence, Rhode Island, 02912, USA
> Tel USA: +1 401 523 8190,  Fax: +1 401 863-2166
> UK to USA: 0207 617 7824
> 
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