Please see the discussion on why this was deleted from Wikipedia at the
end of this post.
[[Vole|'''Vole''']] is the nickname given to the [[Microsoft|Microsoft
Corporation]].
The nickname is believed to have been coined by the online News Journal
[[The_Inquirer|The Inquirer]].
Currently there is no definitive information as to how the name
originated, even The Inquirer's own Jargon file only has this to say:
----
VOLE: "I am a Vole and I live in a hole". Microsoft.
----
Perhaps the most compelling reason was given by a user on The
Inquirer's Message board who said:
"Well, a Vole is a small rodent whose teeth grow continuously.
Therefore they must eat (and wear their teeth down) continously or
their own growth would kill them. In otherwords, Microsoft can only
survive by acquiring/stifling the competition."
Please see the talk page for correspondence with The Inquirer and
responses
posted on The Inquirer's message board about the origin of the
nickhame. Also the below link to the Inquirer's Jargon file
shows that the entry for Vole is unilluminating.
==External links==
*[http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8069 ''Inquirer's Guide To
Inquirer Jargon'']
*[http://www.hermitscave.org ''The Inquirer Message Board '']
=============================================================
********************* Deletion Brouhaha *********************
=============================================================
The following entry in Wikipedia was deleted the following charges were
levelled against the entry:
non-notable
neologism
unencyclopedic
unverifiable
also "stupid" however i will ignore that here!
Each one of these charges were cohenrently argued against and I believe
shown to be incorrect. ( please see the deletion discussion at the end
of this entry )
Despite the fact that i believe that the deletion discussion did not
demonstrate that this entry was a valid candidate for deletion it was
deleted.
This leads this wikipedian to question whether wikipedia is itself
unencyclopedic since by precluding an argulably valid entry it is
clearly NOT comprehensive ;->
The wikipedia policy for deletion is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_policy#Decision_Policy
The article was deleted from Wikipedia after the following discussion:
This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion
of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments
should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this
page is preserved as an historic record.
The result of the debate was delete. Mindspillage (spill yours?) 03:27,
12 May 2005 (UTC)
[edit]
Microsoft vole
POV from an ONLINE news outlet. Does not belong to Wikipedia. And what
is that talk page about?? Delete. Feydey 20:33, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
* Delete this stupid, non-notable agitprop phrase. Gosh, I hate the
Inquirer. Gazpacho 20:50, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
A mention in the Inquirer article is fine (and I can guess
without looking that there already is one), but the phrase is no more
appropriate for an article than "Micro$oft."
* Keep. Anything anti-Microsoft is inherently notable. Delete. Not
verifiable, neologism, dicdef, and other wise unencyclopedic.
--Carnildo 23:25, 26 Apr 2005 (UTC)
* Delete. Even the Inquirer's own glossary has only "Vole" anyway.
- Sebastian (talk) 23:57, 2005 Apr 26 (UTC)
* Delete, POV, nonce term. The Talk page seems to be a copyvio,
too, since the people on the email don't seem to have released it to
the GFDL or to fair use. RickK 00:01, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC)
* Keep. Neologism? It is neither meaningless as it is referenced
all over Google. It also has been a term that's been in use since at
least 2001 well before many other Wikipedia entries (e.g. podcasting ).
Yes it does seem to revolve around usage at the Inquirer, but so what?
Even if you do 'hate the Inquirer' that should not preclude it from
being a valid entry. I think entries are valid if the usage of the word
is widespread enough ( search Google and see ) and it does not exist in
Wikipedia. The sceanario was that an Inquirer article came up on Google
News where i read it and then couldn't find ANY kind of explanation (
even if it was to say that there was NO definitive an explanation ).
One of the first places I tried was wikipedia. Currently if someone
else conducts this same search they will come across this entry and at
least had some knowledge of what the word mean't and the possible
reasons( When i first read the article I didn't even know that
Vole=Microsoft! ). If this entry is deleted then someone will either
give up or waste a lot of time trying to find out ( as I did ). Even if
a term is disparaging the term itself should be included if it's in use
( e.g. fairy a male homosexual (
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=fairy&x=0&y=0
)). The article is not POV in the sense that it is reporting a usage
and not condoning it or promoting it. Note that the explanation of the
term was in quotes and was said to be from a Message Board so it is not
speaking with 'The Authority of Wikipedia'. Also if this is a nonce
term then why has it been used since 2001 that's getting on for four
years! Additionally it's all very well to say that the word is used on
special occasions ( yes i went to M-W to figure out what nonce mean't!
)but it is everywhere on Google and even if a lot of the links are to
Inquirer a lot are NOT - the word seems to have been picked up by other
writers. Also who cares if it is a special occasion surely that should
not preclude it from an entry. I guess i feel quite strongly about this
because there i was, a user on the Internet - i came across a term and
i COULDN'T find out what it mean't. My entry into wikipedia was to
increase everybody's knowledge ( and not to Bash Microsoft ). As for
'copyvio' on talk page - i could instead paraphrase or get permissions
- it is not a show stopper - however i do think it would be nice for
people to get some discussion on etymology. :->
o Above edit by 204.110.116.1 --Carnildo 19:03, 27 Apr 2005
(UTC)
o Let's put it this way: Assume somebody described someone
with a long neck and called her "giraffe". Now assume you didn't know
what it meant. You go to the Wikipedia article about giraffe and read
"Giraffes are famous for their long necks." Voilą! Same with vole. The
article already says "Unlike most rodents, voles' teeth grow
continuously." If you feel this is not enough, just expand this
statement so it sufficiently explains why people use "vole" in the
meaning you quote. - Sebastian (talk) 02:46, 2005 Apr 28 (UTC) (PS:
Please don't go ahead and create an article [[giraffe (insult)]] now.)
;-)
* OK I take it that the article is no longer being considered for
deletion? I hope so! We have two outstanding issues of contention if
the article is kept then.
1.) The quote that shows why the term was used.
(oh bugger - just read Sebastian said to go ahead and explain why
people use vole - BEFORE i wrote all this !!! Sorry. I will leave it in
anyway since it is a clarification of my view even if it may be
redundant now! Although having said that i think that it's not the Vole
article that needs to be updated it should be this article since we are
highlighting this key feature of the Vole as it relates to the nickname
(see below))
I understand that we are trying to reach a point where the article
is still illuminating but is not gratuitously negative to Microsoft
since wikipedia needs to protect it's neutral nature and not be seen as
being hijaked by Anti-Microsoft 'crusaders'. You are trying to protect
wikipedia's integrity and that is the right thing to do. I think that
the use of the giraffe to illustrate the point is fair as far as *that*
animal and *that* explanation goes and also the *key point* that the
girl is described with a long neck to start with. However i wasn't
looking into the nickname of Vole thinking to myself that "...this is
being used to describe a voracious corporation that devours everything
continuously now let's look up what vole means". I guess if i was
thinking that then i would may have understood the possible reason for
vole as nickname without it needing to be illustrated. Also I'm not
sure that voles are famous for having teeth that continuously grow and
if they are famous for it I certainly had no idea and neither does
*everyone* else. So now it's a matter of what we leave out without
assuming knowledge on the part of the person reading ( assumption of
knowledge especially where that assumption is not declared is extremley
frustrating for people seeking knowledge ). I think that the issue
revolves around highlighting the nature of teeth and the key to the
metaphor: the requirement to eat continously ( whether that is true or
not ). That is the key i think: the need to eat continously. So i think
perhaps the bone of contention that is left that maybe considered
gratuitous ( even though it is in quotes! ) is: "...Microsoft can only
survive by acquiring/stifling the competition." I have no objection to
removing this and merely paraphrasing the quote and removing the
quotation marks.
2.) The potential copyviolation.
I am currently attempting to aquire permissions to use the text on
the discussion page.
204.110.116.1
* Update on Item 2.)
OK i misjudged this one - to my suprise the provider of the quote
has wished for it to be retracted from this page for fear of 'unwanted
attention from Microsoft'. - I am removing the complete thread, since i
do not want anyone else to be subject to similar fear.
204.110.116.1
I sympathize with you. Please don't let this discourage you
from speaking up! This is a lame excuse from the provider! For all i
know, the First Amendment has not been abolished yet. It's our all duty
to keep it alive by sound practice. I see this sort of spineless appeal
to fear as a reason for much evil in our society, and i deeply hope
...
read more »
