Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/MrRat

This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page. Where can I find mr. Rat ?

The result of the debate was delete. Eugene van der Pijll 18:08, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] MrRat

Was listed for speedy but dosen't meet criteria. A developer of various Amazon.com related scripts. NSR (talk) 00:11, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

• Check out the talk page and you'll notice it has all 'Don't delete' votes. Before any stupid wikipedia freak puts a page on the 'Votes for deletion' page, maybe they should do some homework about the article. Amazon.com has even mentioned MrRat in press releases about there web services. Anonymous
  • this comment actually by anonymous user User:67.42.194.208, who created the MrRat article and later vandalized the VfD notice on it --Stormie 03:44, July 19, 2005 (UTC)
    • WHAT!!! All I did was add one word to correct it!!! You can take that stupid notice off now. Thank you! Anonymous (Yes, THAT Anonymous user.) — (Improperly signed comment actually by 67.42.194.208; user's 6th edit.)
      • You guys link to him at Internet phenomenon. Don't you want a page about the Internet phenomenon? I didn't think So, yah, I know, Wikipedia sucks. Real signiture my ***. Anonymous (Yes, THAT Anonymous user.) Make that the 7th edit.
        • Please stop signing your edits as User:Anonymous. AиDя01DTALKEMAIL 02:03, July 21, 2005 (UTC)
• Delete. Article is mostly unsubstantiated claims and speculation, but if this guy's software is truly as notable and important as his anonymous fans say it is, then surely one of them can provide us with a source or three. Changing vote to regular ol' delete given sock/meatpuppet activity. AиDя01DTALKEMAIL 02:03, July 21, 2005 (UTC)
• Delete agree with Android79. drini ☎ 03:42, 19 July 2005 (UTC)
• As requested: Amazon's listing of Scripts for 'associates' Amazon don't make these links easy - I think I have correctly stripped out the SessionID - Amazon Products Feed second on the list under Associate Tools - Many of the authors of competing scripts write books, give interviews, etc - MrRat is generally absent from such activities - thus adding to the 'Who is MrRat' phenomena. Perhaps the article (and the Wikipedia) would have been better served had the article initially been created as a stub - it is certainly light on content and on substance, but then stubs are.
• Delete as vanity, self-promotion, original research. Whatever. If someone wants to write an article about the real person behind it, may be encyclopedic. DavidH 05:40, July 19, 2005 (UTC)
• Since I'm a "stranger", I'd first of all better say that I have no connection with Mr. Rat, know almost nothing about him, and have no reason for bias, although I do use one of his free scripts.
• Strong Keep I firmly feel that the 2 current entries for Mr. Rat should be kept. A search of either the General Amazon Associates Discussion Board or the Amazon Associates AWS Discussion Board shows that his scripts are an overwelmingly important contributor to the success of the Amazon AWS project, and thus are an extremely important example of the practical use of XML and remote feeds. As long as there are entries relating to XML, remote feeds, or the Amazon E-Commerce Service, the articles on Mr. Rat are also a major contribution to Wikipedia.
  • sole edit by anonymous User:62.0.112.191 --Stormie 08:05, July 19, 2005 (UTC)
  • I'm the anonymous user who was apparently 62.0.112.191 a few hours ago. (I don't quite understand that, but it's not relevant here. Maybe my router mysteriously rebooted and reconnected without my noticing, though I don't see how.) Will I seem more respectable if I sign up for an identity? I doubt that I'll be writing on Wikipedia much. And if I do sign up, is there a way to aim my new-found respectability retroactively to this thread? Thanks. David.
    • Signing up for a username solely to vote in this discussion won't get you much of anywhere. Votes from usernames registered after the beginning of the discussion are routinely discounted, as are votes from anonymous or registered users with very few edits (which applies to most of the keep votes here, I'm afraid). This is to prevent the occurrence of sockpuppetry. As for your IP, it's certainly possible you got reassigned a new IP between your first and second comments; see Dynamic IP if you aren't familiar with this aspect of the Internet. AиDя01DTALKEMAIL 02:03, July 21, 2005 (UTC)
• Delete beacuse, as written, it has way too much marketing. If it was rewritten as a real article, and not a promotional advertisement, then it may have a chance. And yes, I *use* mrrat's scripts. Eclipsed
• Delete, vanity, nn, low quality, uninformative, ... Pavel Vozenilek 00:00, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
• Keep - I don't see how it is possible to have an article about someone who is famous for his work without talking about his work! I have posted a request on the articles discussion page explaining the dilemna and asking Wikipedians for suggestions in how to move this forward. One or two of you have commented that there may be the basis of an encyclopedic article in there. Any constructive suggestions for how to move this forward - or comments on my earlier suggestion of marking the article as a stub, which is after all a marker for articles that need bulking out with more content - Dean Marshall.
  • edit by anonymous User:81.86.230.44, whose contributions have all been to the MrRat article and this VFD discussion --Stormie 08:06, July 20, 2005 (UTC)
• Delete, even if the software were notable, he would not be. Dcarrano 13:35, July 20, 2005 (UTC)
• Delete, unverified, developer doesn't inherit the notability of the software he works on (not that amazon.com's software is notable anyway). Wile E. Heresiarch 14:29, 20 July 2005 (UTC)
• STRONG KEEP. PERIOD. JEALOUSY = DELETE. MR.RAT MUST STAY. FEAR NOT OPEN SOURCE! AGREE WITH PREVIOUS COMMENT: Seems like sour grapes from the competition to me and if allowed to be deleted for such a reason it brings the viablity of Wikipedia itself into question. — (Unsigned comment by 61.149.10.136; user's 1st edit.)
• Keep, MrRat is a well known figure among many Amazon Developers and the users of there Affiliate system. Without him, I personally could not have started my career in XML web apps as easy as I have. His forums are a great help to many and his software, even though he is "mysterious", is well known. I suggest we keep this and add more to it as we can to help others see a pillar of how to make money with open source. Open source is the future and MrRat is helping many of us realize that future with no selfishness on his part. His support is free, his script is free, and his forums are free. I personally have donated money to his project as a thank you but its not a requirement to use his script. This is my first post to Wikipedia and hopefully not my last, but please do not let my newness discount my comments towards this very generous and helpful person. Thank you. -SilentJoe User:SilentJoe
  • Re: Newness. Our votes are worthless. From a post above....'Votes from usernames registered after the beginning of the discussion are routinely discounted.' 67.42.194.208 - AKA Anonymous.

• Delete this fanboy/resume/vanity cruft. —HorsePunchKid→龜 23:31, July 22, 2005 (UTC)

• Comment Just like to point people to the article's discussion page for substantiation of the widespread adoption of MrRat's software from O'Reilly Media - ranked top 25 by downloads AND user rating - (every other software title in their top25 and their respective authors have articles in Wikipedia)- Dean Marshall (my last word on the subject).

[edit] Votes copied from talk page; please add new votes above this section

• Hello, only a small comment from my site, sorry for my bad english, my native language is german. MrRat wrote the first open source application for Amazon Webservices AWS. His amazon products feed (APF) is one of the most suggested software from Amazon.com and in my opinion the most used Amazon software worldwide. (Most used affiliate software worldwide...) It is open source so everyone can use it without profit for MrRat and thats the best on it, because he coded this script for tousands of affiliates and websites in the world who earn money whith it every day. For me this script was the start in the world of webservices and XML and I'm sure without it webservices, Amazon usage of XML wo't be what it is today. Regards from Germany Frank — (Unsigned comment by 194.138.39.52; user's 37th edit. Contribution history suggests this is an IP shared by many editors.)
• KEEP the Mr. Rat Entry in Wikipedia. Mr. Rat's script is the most widely used of the Amazon API scripts. It has literally HUNDREDS of hacks and mods written for it and posted on the web, and probably THOUSANDS including those which are proprietary. The product is an open source script used by THOUSANDS of users on TENS-of-THOUSANDS of websites, and with a built-in ability to load and run special mods. Mr. Rat is nothing short of a PHENOMENON in the world of API scripting for automated web page creation, and his scripts work on the world's largest and most widely-distributed API - the Amazon.com API. Deleting Mr. Rat from the Wikipedia would show an extraordinary IGNORANCE of what is happening in the world of API scripting - a massive and growing phenomenon with THOUSANDS of users and TENS of THOUSANDS of websites. Come on Wikipedia, what's going on? Does the category manager really not know of Mr. Rat? Let's get with the program here. KEEP Mr. Rat entry. Do NOT delete it. Kent Nelson http://www.hostingdude.com — (Unsigned comment by 68.202.167.253; user's 1st edit.)
• Ditto everything in the above posting from HostingDude.com KEEP Mr. Rat. Mr. Rat's script is the finest and most widely used on the Amazon API. I run hundreds of websites using it. DO NOT delete the Mr. Rat Entry. Ana Malave, Owner http://www.anabooks.com — (Duplicate vote by 68.202.167.253; user's 2nd edit.)
• STRONG DISAGREE - As an avid and long time user of MrRat's scripts, I don't see what the hub bub is about here. He is an established author of widely used programs. I can't believe it was even considered for deletion. Seems like sour grapes from the competition to me and if allowed to be deleted for such a reason it brings the viablity of Wikipedia itself into question. — (Unsigned comment by Piwacket; user's 1st and only edit so far.)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.