We have described the user experience we expect from large and diverse communities as a "chorus" of voices. Here we consider how the hosts of such communities could be organized so as to enable but not constrain collaboration.
See Chorus of Voices
Here when we say wiki we mean federated wiki, a specific and unusual implementation that is still recognizably wiki and consistent with the original design.
See Wiki Design Principles
We view the federation as an intellectual commons where individuals operate small, single author, sites from which pages are freely copied under a creative commons license. In our ideal, site software could be installed and launched with a couple of commands.
Practical operating concerns complicate this ideal with responsibilities familiar to any website operator. These include registering and renewing domain names, refreshing cryptographic certificates and saving and restoring from off-site data backups.
We have found that concentrating operational responsibilities upon server operators as distinct from site owners reduces the average overhead per author creating a "condominium" style of ownership.
See Ownership Metaphor
Administration
Policy
Security
Migration