What is surprising about all this is that it wouldn't take much effort at all to get fed up and fork Wikipedia. Surely Wales and company understand this danger.
Look up "Network Effects" ... ironically, probably on Wikipedia
What happens when the network of editors moves over to the new Wikipedia? The old one becomes stale and dies.
That won't happen because of network effects. Nobody wants to edit a site that nobody else reads.
Even if the networks will move over, a lot of links won't. Search engines won't put results from "VeryFreeCompletelyTransparentWiki.com" as a first result/Sidebar, they will put Wikipedia because the large user base can effectively prevent vandalism. Wether that's a good thing or not is up for debate
Networks don't move, individuals do. But individuals tend not to leave a large network for a small one.
Networks can connect. Old and new wikipedia can be connected together to share edits.
> the network of editors moves over to the new Wikipedia
oh please yes
This would be a disaster and is the worst possible outcome - you don't end up with a new, better wikipedia. You end up with two crappier versions of wikipedia.
I'm not saying it'd be good for anyone. I'm just saying that it seems Wales is playing with fire.