Comments on: Does Oracle take Wiki censorship too far?

By: Sten Vesterli

Sten Vesterli — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:51:51 +0000

I’d like to point out that my Wiki entries were simply modified by other users that happened to be Oracle employees. They were not editorially removed and my version remains in the history pages of the Wiki for everyone to see.

The issue is not that Oracle product managers pay close attention to the Oracle Wiki and edit pages agressively. Others can simply edit them again until a consensus is reached – that’s the Wiki way.

The issue is that by flaming people editing the Wiki, some Oracle employees are trying to assert ownership of pages – and that’s not the Wiki way…

By: Jonah H. Harris

Jonah H. Harris — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:04:42 +0000

As a non-Oracle employee who has contributed significantly to the Oracle Wiki, I can say that I have seen nothing which would lead me to believe it is being intentionally censored.

Oracle Wiki is a great place for factual information regarding Oracle products. In fact, there are several pages which mention features which don’t work as expected, but they’re written in a factual and tactful manner. As Stan’s criticism could easily have been overly negative, or related to his own improper configuration/implementation, I can see how it may have qualified for removal.

In my opinion, blogs are best designed for opinions/experiences.

-Jonah

By: RG

RG — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:02:19 +0000

Who owns the wiki? There are many wiki’s and blogs available that are not owned by Oracle. Companies spend millions in protecting their brand and products, I completely understand why they would have concern over their company owned wiki being used against their own sales efforts.

(no, I do not work for Oracle, I just don’t feel your free speech rights extend into a company owned forum)

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:44:32 +0000

Hi.

If the author had posted his opinions on his blog, then Oracle put pressure on him to remove them, I would think Oracle were totally out of order.

As it is, he posted his opinion on a wiki. A wiki, regardless of the owner, is not the correct location for opinions. That sort of stuff should go in a blog or in a forum.

I believe the author should reprint his original comments on his blog, then people will be able to judge if they are fair or not.

I can’t speak for Oracle’s motives for removing these opinions, but I think they did the correct thing. The wiki should be a location to find information, not opinions. There are a million and one blogs where we can get opinions.

Cheers

Tim…