1. The WikiWorld
IMKE CSC 2006
Kaido Kikkas

2. Wiki-Wiki! 1987 - Howard 'Ward' Cunningham writes HyperCard
1991 – Tim Berners-Lee invents the Web
– Cunningham studies various ways of presenting information, builds the first freely editable website, WikiWikiWeb (still online at
The name came from Honolulu airport shuttle bus
“Quickly” in Hawaiian Pidgin English, doubled

3. The original Wiki-Wiki
Chance RT-52

4. Main points Allow free flow of changes
Make it easy to correct/restore (rather than control changes)
Use simple entry and markup

5. Technical details
A majority is server-side, but client-side Wikis also exist
Various markup systems
CamelCaps vs long_entry_names

6. Open vs closed
Original WikiWikiWeb and next ones were totally open – everyone was able to enter and change the content
It is possible to use a totally controlled Wiki – but in most cases, this makes little sense
Due to the spam industry, most large Wikis nowadays tend to be half-open (usually registration is needed to edit)

7. Problems
Vandalism – straight destruction or destructive changes to content
Trolling – entering provocative content to cause uproar

8. From WikiWikiWeb to Wikipedia
1999 – Richard Stallman promotes the idea of free encyclopedia
2000 – Jimmy Wales starts Nupedia along with Larry Sanger and Bomis (
January 2001 – a Californian programmer named Ben Kovitz introduces the WikiWikiWeb to Larry Sanger. He asks Wales to set up a Wiki as a side project to Nupedia

9. A failed attempt: Nupedia
Started in March 2000
A free encyclopedia project, at first used its own license, later switched to GNU FDL
Attempted to compete with commercial encyclo- pedias by using only qualified experts (Ph.D. was required!) and seven-step peer-review process
In three years, 24 articles were completed and 74 more started
In 2003 merged with Wikipedia

10. GNUpedia Started in 2001 following Stallman's earlier proposal
FSF liked Nupedia's licensing but considered the review process too bureaucratic and 'unhackery'
Later named GNE – 'GNE is Not an Encyclopedia' (similar naming to GNU), yet the switch stalled the project
Gradually merged with Wikipedia, since FSF started to express its support to it

11. Wikipedia: a short history
January 2000 – a complementary Wiki-based project to Nupedia
February – 1000 articles, September –
March – first non-English version (German)
2003 – articles in English version. Wikimedia Foundation, WikiQuote, WikiBooks
March 2006 – 1 million is reached
Currently: more than articles in English, over 5 million in total

12. Wikipedia: main principles
Free content - authors retain copyright but agree to publish under the FDL
Neutral point of view
No original research
Multiple views rather than objectivity at all costs
References should be used (increasingly stressed)

13. Conclusion
An increasingly used way to cooperation and community-based creation
Sometimes 'soft security' seems to work well
A powerful propagation tool for content sharing mindset