by Hooray » Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:40 pm
I am aware of this particular argument, and I don't even necessarily disagree with it - but it is only fair to point out that other articles are suffering from pretty much the same problem, including those based on quotes that are simply not attributed properly, so the cquotes style/formatting just makes the problem more obvious, while also linking it all back to a single template/use-case (and often contributor).
Regarding the recent Phi/EarthView edits, I am grateful for the corresponding work, and while your perspective may differ (because you are the EarthView developer), jaxsin stated already that Phi related quotes were indeed helpful when de-quoting/rewriting the article - and quite frankly, I would prefer having redundant information (which can be easily identified/removed) rather than missing certain information.
If anything, redundant quotes are symptomatic for the way the corresponding documentation was severely lacking, so that the person quoted felt the need to reiterate certain points, which got added "verbatim" without any proper review/down-stripping involved.
Anyway, this is not intended to be an argument - like I said, regular contributors are unlikely to appreciate the benefits of having collections of quotes in the wiki, while others may benefit from such information, especially to bootstrap new articles - without having to be spoon-fed by the original developer/s.
In the case of the EarthView article that didn't quite work out, because its original developer ended up rewriting the corresponding article - however, it seems, that in the case of the Phi article, this is in the process of working out quite well - despite its developer not being supportive of the corresponding degree of Phi related quoting in the wiki.
Like Richard said, it's a chicken and egg thing - most of these quotes would be redundant once features are better documented, absent that, they're really just symptomatic for the disparity between ongoing development and documentation efforts (which isn't such a bad thing once you think about it, in fact, the opposite would be worse for the project)