this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 124 points 11 months ago (19 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It doesnt have to be a federated β€œwikipedia” it can be a federated wiki. Look at the fandom controversy right now where a bunch of games are now moving to their own wikis. A federated wiki software would let all those game wiki host their own wikis but still contribute to eachother without making an account on each wiki.

I want to subscribe to the minecraft and the terraria wikis from my garrys mod wiki account to get notifications on new pages and i want to contribute to them without making an account on each. Federated wikis would be cool

Also i DEFINITELY want a full fledged wiki page available on lemmy so each community can have a wiki with multiple pages and nice linking and a WYSISWYG editor like wikipedia

[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This isn't talking about "wikis". This is talking about an online encyclopedia of knowledge. I don't want 15 versions of the "physics wiki". I want one centralized source. So again, what does Wikipedia currently fail at that decentralizing it would solve? No one is stopping you from making an account right now and making edits.

What you're describing about seeing updates is just an RSS feed.

This is just slapping "federization" on something that doesn't need it because cool new thing.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

I agree, that's a big issue. The US regime hires people to influence the Wikipedia organization, they choose the "reliable news sources", mark some news outlets as fake news, and they edit articles about wars and so on to disseminate their propaganda. Also, the PATRIOT Act... As I wrote a couple months ago, we should end digital colonialism.

Scientific articles about math and stuff like that are fine.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Why is having alternative sources of information that can collaborate a bad thing?

Why are you even on lemmy, rather than reddit, if you'd rather have a single isolated source of communication?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (3 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Fedipedia?

I wouldn't worry about a mascot so much as making the name instantly recognizable as an online encyclopedia. Keep it simple.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Sounds like furry stuff

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

That's a horrible name for multiple reasons, least among which that it sounds like "stinky-pedia" in portuguese.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago

Wiki McWikface

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Ibis ? Each article would be a parchment of knowledge. Check the myth and legends section : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_sacred_ibis

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I like this, although it feels a bit too short.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I tried combining it with other words but none felt correct. Maybe " Ibis's library" as a nod to "Anna's archive"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

The more I think about it, the more I like the name. Here is the freshly renamed repo, but its not released yet so 🀫

[–] [email protected] 18 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Encyclopedia is "general education", referring to its broad scope. Wikipedia added wiki as a reference to the source, so the best one would be {source}pedia.

Fedepedia isn't awful but feels... bland, in my opinion.

Something like consolidate is a good synonym for it, but consolipedia also doesn't feel right to me, so if we're not referring to the federated part, we'd have to refer to the decentralized part. Decentropedia is fairly decent, but I'm fond of Micropedia, because the root word is very common, and I feel it's catchier than decentropedia. Either of those are good though.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Fedipedia? I guess you want the wiki bit in the name, but Fedipedia really rolls off the tongue.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Capybarawiki, Copybora

[–] [email protected] 10 points 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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 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
[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

OwlEyrie. It refers to owls as symbols of wisdom and to a group of owls.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

And then everyone can call it O RLY

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

A few animal-inspired names that I think have a nice ring to them

  • Dodopedia (extinct like Mastadons, similar vowel rhythm to "wiki")
  • Hippopedia
  • Komodopedia
[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

hehe doodoopedia

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Thothpedia, with a little chibi thoth as the mascot. Thoth is the god of writing.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

Clusterfuckipedia

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Keep your laws off of MyPedia

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Wikifedia, Fediwiki?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Kiwipedia. With a kiwi as mascot.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh yeah theres an open source offline wikipedia app called kiwix so its even more fitting

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

@nutomic
Ward and co. Are already off to the races with fedwiki

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

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

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