Thanks Gerard for the heads up. I think that the issue is really one of marketing tailored to the community. I respect the efforts made by the individual who posted at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_closing_projects/Closure_of_Xhosa_Wikipedia , and s/he has clearly thought about this.

However to say that there is no interest among 6 million Xhosa speakers in Wikipedia certainly covers a lot of diverse realities. My guess is that in this case, as in many others, the vast majority of speakers who have access to computers and the internet have little or no idea what Wikipedia is. A few do, and apparently those are not interested enough to motivate them to get actively involved. My guess is that there are probably some people who would really get into it but they do not know about it.

As much as I like Wikipedia and its overall philosophy and approach, I really do think that it needs a new paradigm for dealing with less widely spoken languages. If the Xhosa Wikipedia is closed, it is not a failure of Xhosa speakers to take an interest, and it is not a failure of User:Jcwf to do more. It is a failure of marketing, however it is put, and that goes back to the apparent expectation in Wikipedia that "if you build it, they will come." That doesn't work for many languages. More imaginative approaches should be taken, individual contacts need to be made. Jcwf did good by contacting the chancellor of Fort Hare University, but more individual contacts need to be made and if necessary Wikimedia Fndn should find a way to implement such a longer term focused effort. Have translators and professors of Xhosa been contacted? Have ways of incorporating smaller Wikipedias into learning programs - or teacher education programs - been looked into? These are things that the Wikimedia Fndn can do.

There were some Wikipedia Academies held in South Africa and I think that this was an excellent step, but this also needs to be integrated into a larger effort. How about a Wikipedia Academy organized with PanSALB and or one or more Universities for teachers of Xhosa. Not just a Saturday come on over thing, but in the mode of teacher-training?

Basically WMF has to decide whether it is really in favor of developing the multilingual direction of Wikipedia, which involves more strategy and more imaginative outreach, or it can just retreat into closing projects because "no one is interested" according to casual evaluation.

Some say that when there is interest then they can start it. Well sure, but you lose time during which the resource can develop and bring other people. By closing and eventually deleting projects, WMF guarantees that time is lost and that a resource like Xhosa Wikipedia will develop more slowly.

Searching for an analogy here - it's maybe like the proverbial bush taxi. It won't start so what do you do - roll it into the garage and order the part, meanwhile letting the passengers go off wherever? Or do you give iet a push start or a jump start and get to where you're going (pick up the part you need on the way or whatever)? I think that WMF needs to keep the goal in mind, the goal of getting diverse Wikipedias going, and not be limited in the mindset that if it doesn't start on its own there ain't nothing to do but put it up on blocks.

Sorry for the rant, and again I realize that there are good people doing good work, but there does not seem to be a good overall strategy for African language editions of Wikipedia, and this latest announcement concerning the Xhosa Wikipedia is another proof of that. That is the critical issue here, not whether Xhosa, and this and that language Wikipedia should be closed for lack of interest.

I want to thank you again, Gerard, for taking the time to pass on word. I confess that I haven't had time to follow foundation-l or to monitor the Meta-Wiki to catch these things. Do you think it is possible that notices concerning African language editions of Wikipedia come regularly to this list? There is a community of people interested in this topic here, and I've listed the list on Meta-Wiki http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Afrophonewikis . As part of developing a serious strategy for African language Wikipedias, how about better integrating this group in the discussions?

Don