Wikimedia Foundation Launches Wikivoyage 47
jones_supa writes "The Wikimedia Foundation has marked its 12th anniversary by launching a Creative-Commons-licensed travel guide called Wikivoyage. Like other Wikimedia projects, Wikivoyage contains material written collaboratively by volunteers. The site has launched under the aegis of Wikimedia with around 50,000 articles and approximately 200 volunteer editors. Wikivoyage started in 2006 as a travel guide in German and Italian, backed by the German non-profit Wikivoyage Association. The transition to a Wikimedia project was initiated by contributors and the Association, and content is currently offered in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. The purpose of the Wikivoyage is to promote education and knowledge of all countries and regions in the world, as well as understanding among nations. There's a huge global demand for travel information, but very few sources are both comprehensive and non-commercial. That's about to change."
To be clear... (Score:5, Informative)
Wikivoyage is largely a fork of Wikitravel, which has been around for years, but is under the control of a private business.
Re:Great (Score:4, Informative)
Did you actually look at the site? Almost all the content was copied and pasted straight from Wikitravel. Maybe over time it will become another option, but for now the differences are very minor.
When this story broke a couple days ago the big question was: WHY did they create this site? There's already another perfectly good travel wiki. What's the motivation for creating a second one that has the same content? Why is this news? And why do all the articles about Wikivoyage neglect to mention Wikitravel?
Re:Great (Score:2, Informative)
Answer. [gyrovague.com]
Re:Great (Score:5, Informative)
WHY did they create this site?
They didn't. It was forked from Wikitravel several years ago.
What's the motivation for creating a second one that has the same content?
Free culture. This site is run on a non-profit basis. At the risk of sounding pedantic, it's worth it to have free alternatives. This is like saying, "We already have a newspaper, so why have alternative weeklies?"
And why do all the articles about Wikivoyage neglect to mention Wikitravel?
That's maybe your best question and providing context to these stories will help to clarify *why* this is news at all. The Wikimedia Foundation probably doesn't mention them in their press because of litigious threats and the fact that Wikivoyage has (and has had) its own identity, but news outlets should do their research and post background information making your questions redundant rather than simply parroting press releases.