User:Appraiser/Wikipedia Panel ideas

I'm planning to present this outline to programming organizers as a suggested panel topic.

Wikipedia[edit]

Idea for The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource was originated in 1999 by Richard Stallman care of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation. As of 2008, FSF recommends Wikipedia, which is the only free encyclopedia they list.
"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing. It is my intention to get a copy of Wikipedia to every single person on the planet in their own language. It is my intention that free textbooks from our wikibooks project will be used to revolutionize education in developing countries by radically cutting the cost of content.” – Jimmy Wales
This is a fruit of the "Information Age"
theory - Similar to the Gutenberg Bible – dissemination of information begets power
theory - Knowledge forces Democracy

Will the collaboration of 100 novices produce a better product that one expert with a peer review?
Can a good product be produced starting with no rules and no one in charge?
Will constant vandalism kill the project?
Will user’s lack of trust in the content yield a useless product?
Can the project survive on donations alone? Will commercial interests try to kill it?
Paperless model is ideal for up-to-the-minute information