Encoresoup:Policies

From Encoresoup - The Ultimate Guide to Free/Open Source Software

1 The "Nothing Is Set In Stone" Policy
2 Inclusion Policy
3 Other Policies

[edit] The "Nothing Is Set In Stone" Policy

Encoresoup is very new and we are still "finding our feet". All of the policies documented on and linked from this page are subject to refinement and modification. Please feel free to discuss them on the Talk page or at Café Libre

[edit] Inclusion Policy

In order for an Article to be acceptable on Encoresoup and avoid summary deletion it must either :

For a software product it must be licensed under a Free Software or Open Source licence, and it must not be 'Vapourware' (i.e. The product must already exist or it must be under active development).
For a software company or organisation it must either produce Free or Open Source software, or it must provide distribution, support or other services for Free or Open Source software. The article must limit itself to discussing these activities and must not indulge in describing any other activities the company or organisation may participate in, except that it may mention such activities in passing.
For a person, he or she must be a notable participant in the field of Free or Open Source software. The Article may indulge in providing background information about the person, but should concentrate on aspects of the person's life or career that is pertinent to Free or Open Source software.

[edit] Other Policies

Encoresoup is still very new. Until we find our feet, the following Wikipedia Policies should be considered to be in effect here. All of these are open to discussion and will soon be documented locally, together with any changes appropriate to Encoresoup.

[edit] Behavioral

Bots: Programs that update pages automatically in a useful and harmless way may be welcome, as long as their owners seek approval first and are careful to keep them from running amok or being a drain on resources.
Civility: Being rude, insensitive or petty makes people upset and stops Encoresoup from working well. Try to discourage others from being uncivil, and be careful to avoid offending people unintentionally. Mediation is available if needed.
Editing policy: Improve pages wherever you can, and don't worry about leaving them imperfect. It is advisable to explain major changes.
Edit warring: If someone challenges your edits, discuss it with them and seek a compromise. Don't just fight over competing views and versions.
No personal attacks: Do not make personal attacks anywhere in Encoresoup. Comment on content, not on the contributor. Personal attacks damage the community and deter users. Nobody likes abuse.
Ownership of articles: You agreed to allow others to modify your work. So let them.
Sock puppetry: Do not use multiple accounts to create the illusion of greater support for an issue, to mislead others, or to circumvent a block; nor ask your friends to create accounts to support you or anyone.
Three-revert rule: Do not revert any single page in whole or in part more than three times in 24 hours. For exceptions, see WP:3RR#Exceptions.
Username: Choose a neutral username that you'll be happy with. You can usually change your name if you need to by asking, but you can't delete it.
Vandalism: Vandalism is any addition, deletion, or change to content made in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of the article. It is, and needs to be, removed.

[edit] Content and style

Attack pages: An article, page, category, redirect or image created for the sole purpose of disparaging its subject is an attack page. These pages are subject to being deleted at any time.
Biographies of living persons: Articles about living persons require a degree of sensitivity. Be very firm about high-quality references, particularly about details of personal lives. "Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material — whether negative, positive, or just questionable — about living persons should be removed immediately and without discussion from

articles, talk pages, user pages, and project space."

Naming conventions: Generally, article naming should give priority to what the majority of English speakers worldwide would most easily recognize, with a reasonable minimum of ambiguity, while at the same time making linking to those articles easy and second nature.
Neutral point of view: Articles, including reader-facing templates, categories and portals, should be written from a Neutral Point of View.

[edit] Deletion

Category deletion policy: Deleting categories follows roughly the same process as articles, except that it's on a different page. Categories that don't conform to naming conventions can be "speedily renamed".
Criteria for speedy deletion: Articles, images, categories etc. may be "speedily deleted" if they clearly fall within certain categories, which generally boil down to pages lacking content, or disruptive pages. Anything potentially controversial should go through the deletion process instead. In addition articles describing software which is clearly non-free may also be speedily deleted
Deletion policy: Deleting articles requires an administrator and generally follows a consensus-forming process. Most potentially controversial deletions require a three-step process and a waiting period of a week.
Office actions: Encoresoup administration reserves the right to speedily delete an article temporarily in cases of exceptional controversy.
Oversight: Page revisions can be deleted for legal reasons.

[edit] Legal and copyright

Copyrights: Material which infringes other copyrights must not be added. The legalities of copyright and "fair use" are quite complex.
Copyright violations: Encoresoup has no tolerance for copyright violations, and we actively strive to find and remove any violations.
Image use policy: Generally avoid uploading nonfree images; fully describe images' sources and copyright details on their description pages, and try to make images as useful and reusable as possible.
Libel: It is Encoresoup policy to delete libellous revisions from the page history.
Non-free content criteria: The cases in which you can declare an image "fair use" are quite narrow. You must specify the exact use of the image, and only use the image in that one context.
Reusing Encoresoup content: Encoresoup material may be freely used under the GFDL, which means you must credit authors, relicense the material under GFDL and allow free access to it.
Text Of The GNU Free Documentation License: This is the license under which all contributions to Encoresoup are released. Any re-use of the work must also be released under GFDL.