With great regret, I announce my semi-retirement from Wikipedia. I have enjoyed helping to build this encyclopedia since 2007, and we have achieved a lot together, but times have changed.
The WMF was formed to facilitate Wikipedia and initially did so well. The disks spun reliably; the software mostly worked. Since then, the WMF has bloated exponentially. Funded by aggressive and deceptive begging, it has turned to ever more tangential ways to dispose of its embarrassingly large cash surplus. This arrogant parasite is now so aloof that it cannot even remember who funds it: its mission statement and annual goals don't even mention an encyclopedia. I see little point in continuing to contribute to an enterprise which has lost its way so badly, and I feel that my time would now be more productively spent elsewhere.
On a practical note, I have turned off various daily and weekly reports listing tasks which I will no longer be doing. Please feel free to reinstate any which you find useful. I have marked my status as semi-retired as I will log in occasionally and respond to messages, though perhaps not very promptly, and may even fix the odd error which particularly irritates me.
Thank you to those who have worked with me. I apologise for leaving you with many incomplete projects. The fine colleagues I have met along the way are too numerous to mention individually, and I wouldn't wish to insult anyone by omission. However, you know who you are. The readership, of which I remain a grateful member, appreciates your dedicated and skilled service. I shall miss your company. Certes (talk) 15:26, 17 June 2024 (UTC)