X-Git-Url: https://codewiz.org/gitweb?p=wiki.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=about;h=a1cddeffa8fe8546f6046ead65ae121584ac5650;hp=69753dfa826f90e77d0d4ba355dc41f8ae3b6cca;hb=63cfc801b9ace7869cff094098f382825357d0e3;hpb=6b2c1f45bbdcb9c82bfc650462656052ba2876b3

diff --git a/about b/about
index 69753df..a1cddef 100644
--- a/about
+++ b/about
@@ -4,32 +4,22 @@ This website hosts my personal [[http://codewiz.org/ | wiki]], my [[pictures | p
 
 === About this wiki ===
 
-You're invited to edit these pages! Make practice in the WikiSandBox.
-You may want to read the EditingTips to get started.
-Editing requires authentication.  If you don't have a real account, you can
-login as **Anonymous****Coward** with empty password.
+You're welcome to edit these pages! Practice in the [[WikiSandBox]] and read the [[EditingTips]] to get started.
+Editing requires authentication.  If you don't have an account, you can login as **Anonymous****Coward**
+with empty password.  Your IP will be logged in the edit history.
 
-=== About the software powering this website ===
+=== About self-hosting your online identity ===
 
-This web site is powered by my own minimalistic wiki engine called [[GeekiGeeki]].
-
-Why would someone host my own wiki, blog and photo sharing when there are dozens of
-free-beer alternatives online?
-
-It's a matter of remaining [[http://autonomo.us/about/ | autonomous]] from online services as
-much as possible. Call me a fundamentalist, but I find it very disturbing to give up my
-online identity to services whose conditions are established and changed unilaterally.
+This site is powered by my minimalist wiki engine, [[GeekiGeeki]].
 
 The [[http://opendefinition.org/ | definition of open knowledge]] is still a subject of
-discussion. At this time, I tend to boycot those online web services that make it
-intentionally hard bulk access to data created collaboratively by their users.
-Examples of such badly behaving sites are [[http://www.imdb.com | IMDB]] and
-[[http://flickr.com | Flickr]]: both have been created by us, but try downloading
-substantial portions of their data, if you can.
-
-My current personal policy is to use these services in read-only mode, without
-helping them collect even more information. The Wikipedia, on the other hand,
-provides an interface to dump the entire database, including the history of edits.
-
-Call me a fundamentalist for going through these hoops, but I believe I'm acting in
-my best personal interest. I //do// care about my meta-self, and you?
+debate. At this time, I avoid web services that disallow bulk access to data created
+collaboratively by their users. An examples of such badly behaved site is
+[[http://www.imdb.com | IMDB]] and [[http://flickr.com | Flickr]]: both have been
+created with data provided by users, but access to this data is only possible through
+the service, and bulk downloading is not allowed. On the other end of the spectrum,
+[[http://wikipedia.org | Wikipedia]] provides an interface to dump the entire database,
+including the edit history. This is what we should demand from any online resource
+built collaboratively.
+
+When choosing where to host your data, take into account this important freedom.
\ No newline at end of file