> Wikipedia is only a non-profit because of a labour strike
Amazing post by Roel Roscam Abbing about a little known episode in the history of Wikipedia:
In light of US tech oligarchy setting its sights on Wikimedia Foundation, a historical detail I did not know before: #Wikipedia became the non-profit it is today partly as the result of a labour strike of Spanish Wikipedia editors who disagreed with the proposed inclusion of advertisements. Initially, it was not clear what revenue model Wikipedia would get, and Wales moved towards a for-profit model already a year after launch. However, rather than working for free, so Jimmy Wales could profit from their labour via advertising, Spanish contributors forked Spanish Wikipedia as the Encyclopedia Libre Universal. Under the threat of losing the editorial community of such a large language, Wales conceded and set up the non-profit.
That is to say, however imperfect they are, all the digital commons we have are the result of ongoing struggle and hard work to keep them as commons.
A really useful follow-up post with sources and further reading, too.