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Google Donates $2 Million To the Wikimedia Foundation

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the citation-needed dept.

k33l0r writes "Yesterday, the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia and other projects, announced that it has received a $2 million donation from Google. This is the first time that Google has supported Wikipedia, and it has many wondering why. Anyone remember Knol, Google's answer to Wikipedia?"

10 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. No. No one remembers by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: -1, Troll

    Google does so many things. It's hard to keep track of every little project they are involved in.

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donates money to causes like vaccination and school building in third world countries.

    The impact of the Gates' money is immediate, but in the long run a well-funded knowledge base is much more effective at raising the standard of living worldwide. Again, Google upstages Microsoft. Is there anything they can't fail at?

    1. Re:No. No one remembers by mariushm · · Score: -1, Troll

      Yeah right, because Gates does it out of their hearts... you're an idiot if you think that. They're just investing their money in vaccines and patenting everything.

      Of course, Google donates because it has interest in Wikipedia to, they don't do it because they woke up the wrong way today.

    2. Re:No. No one remembers by V!NCENT · · Score: -1, Troll

      You too also miss the entire point.

      The Bill Gates foundation only gives the bare minimum of money required to be a charity and thus kill of taxes.

      That bare minimum only goes to the people that have health concerns because they work for/live close at the companies that polute, in which the Bill Gates foundation holds stock, so it's buying off the guilt.

      In the end when Billy is dead, all the money is supposed to go to charity, which is good, althought you can ask yourself of what use the money still is to a dead person; after your deatch you can't use it anyway...

      And the charity only goes to plans people make to develop solutions. Any patent aquired that relates to whatever is being developped will come into Gates his hands because he paid for the investment.

      Wost form of charity ever...

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    3. Re:No. No one remembers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      [Citation Needed] :D

    4. Re:No. No one remembers by cheftw · · Score: 1, Troll

      I came here to post what parent said, and subsequently got modded troll for.

      Could someone please link the the list of views that qualify as troll?

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    5. Re:No. No one remembers by garaged · · Score: 0, Troll

      I would be impressed if they delivered the whole 3.8B to ALL the people not getting any help on yearly basis, if they managed to get 3.8B, they can accomplish to get similar figures on a few years, there is way more good on puting the money where needed that "economizing it" to "be able to help for more years".

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    6. Re:No. No one remembers by RazorSharp · · Score: 0, Troll

      Does it really matter whether Google or Gates has spent MORE on things which can be listed on one's taxes as "charity?" Of course Bill Gates outspends every other charity. It's no different than how Microsoft is run. Outspend everyone else because glory is more important than efficiency, market dominance is more important than shareholders. How would Bill get all the press he's so desperate for if someone else had a better charity organization. Perhaps if he didn't feel the need to call the press and be an interview whore every time his foundation spend a penny I would suspect that he may be sincere but I really don't buy it. It's not like his foundation needs press, as you pointed out, it's not funded by donations.

      To paraphrase Anthony Burgess, "It's not good deeds that makes one good, but good intent."

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  2. Re:Giving back by zappepcs · · Score: 0, Troll

    Probably not. Imagine trying to reinvent the wheel, every time someone changes a tread pattern? MS did a lot of that, and with the do no evil mantra, supporting Wikipedia while collecting revenue from searches is donoevil+catchrevenue = ftw

    By supporting Wikipedia Google continues to catalog and index the world's information. When you add it up, it is just Google doing what Google said it would do, making alliances along the way to make it profitable.

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  3. Re:Giving back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Yeah right.

    1. Search for "$WHATEVER wikipedia" in google.
    2. First result probably is wikipedia. You click on it
    3. You are now on totally ads free site.
    4. Profit?????

  4. Re:I was much mor generous. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    You were more of a fool to give Wikipedia anything and not get a thing in return.