blackSoftware.com’s WikiPedia pitch

For word and definition: “ethnic software”

Wikipedia Administrators, commonly known as admins or sysops (system operators), are editors who have been trusted with access to restricted technical features (“tools”). For example, administrators can protect and delete pages, and block other editors. The English Wikipedia currently has 1,242 administrators as of 19 December 20 and this webmaster ran into a bunch of them on his quest for updating the Wiki volume with the words blacksoftware and ethnic software.

I’ve heard people tell me that oh yeah, all you have to do is create the page and that’s it.  Well, not in our case. I wanted to make the sentence longer where various types of software are being described in the Wikipedia.   In my world, “blackSoftware” belongs in that paragraph because names like Flight Simulator, Photo Editor and accounting software appear there now.  Go to the Wiki, enter “Application Software” in the search field and you’ll see what I mean. No mention of blackSoftware is there. None!

The bar was set high for accepting our new proposed words.

Wiki editors had not seen our words before.  These editors are expert search engine users. The know where the hidden data is buried.  Were they any help finding third party references to our words. Well, NO!  and that’s exciting.

We brought something new to the table. The editors said so.

I thought fresh, new words would be a good thing.

Nope, they were not a good thing in this case.

They could not find use  in their domain.  They could not find how we used ethnic software anywhere on the planet  unless they had intentionally skipped over something they found and didn’t want to tell us, but I doubt that happened.

Black people can be super-sensitive about rejection.

In hindsight, I never considered race and culture had to do with the Wiki’s decision at that time. But now, 11 years later, I have second thoughts about it. I went in with “Blacksoftware. ” They flat out refused to even consider that word.

After some haggling, I told them, okay l’d rather not fight, let’s switch.

I told to consider the word “Ethnic Software ” since they didn’t like “Blacksoftware.”

I told them ethnic software is a subcategory of applications software.

Here’s what they said to that.

@blacksoftware Tweets

post photo from black book store tour of Uncle Bobbie’s while in Philadelphia, Dec 2017