Originally Posted By: Mike Kremer

I really wonder why Larry Sanger has opted out of Wikipedia?
His personal, original, and extremly successful idea.


The Wikipedia article on Larry Sanger states:

"Jimmy Wales, who is the current Wikimedia Foundation Chairman Emeritus, has publicly disputed since 2004 that Sanger is a co-founder[13] of Wikipedia. Wales described Sanger as having been merely a subordinate employee,[1] and stated of the co-founder claim "I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable".[14] Sanger concedes that it was Wales alone who conceived of an encyclopedia that non-experts could contribute to, i.e., the Nupedia.[15] However, Sanger maintains that it was he who brought the wiki concept to Wales and suggested it be applied to Nupedia and that, after some initial skepticism, Wales agreed to try it. (Wales has claimed that one Jeremy Rosenfeld first suggested the idea of a wiki to him, though he claimed earlier, in October 2001, that "Larry had the idea to use Wiki software."[7]) Sanger also maintains that he "came up with the name 'Wikipedia', a silly name for what was at first a very silly project."[15] In response to Wales' view of his role in Wikipedia, Sanger posted on his personal webpage a collection of links which he claimed confirmed his co-founder role.[2] Sanger has also provided evidence that he is the co-founder of Wikipedia, by referencing earlier versions of Wikipedia pages,[16][17][18][19] citing press releases from Wikipedia in the years of 2002 - 2004,[20][21][22] and asserting that early media coverage articles[23][24] stated Wales and Sanger are the co-founders.[1][2] In review, Larry Sanger conceived of the wiki-based encyclopedia as a strategic solution to Nupedia's inefficiency problems, and spearheaded and pursued the project as its leader in its first year.[15] Further, Sanger has been widely described in the media as a co-founder."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sanger

He personally states why he left:

"Later, in December 2004, Sanger wrote a critical article for the website Kuro5hin, in which he admitted that there had existed "a certain poisonous social or political atmosphere in the project" that had also accounted for his departure.[10] While claiming "to appreciate the merits of Wikipedia fully" and to know and support "the mission and broad policy outlines of Wikipedia very well", Sanger maintained that there are serious problems with the project. There was, he wrote, a lack of public perception of credibility, and the project put "difficult people, trolls, and their enablers" into too much prominence; these problems, he maintained, were a feature of the project's "anti-elitism, or lack of respect for expertise"."

Interesting stuff, especially the last sentence. The very thing that makes it so great also dooms it.

Blacknad.