Thread:Comments:Wikimedia Foundation announces departure of general counsel Mike Godwin/Is it just me ...?/reply (2)

On reflection: only two things seem unusual about the announcement. One is the missing word "resign" and the second is the characteristic verbosity that Greg Kohs mentioned.

We really should take this statement at face value: "We’re not aware of any significant differences of opinion between Mike and the Wikimedia Foundation, in terms of values, principles, ethics, future plans, or anything like that."

There really could be any number of legitimately confidential reasons to part company without "egregious" misconduct. The range goes all the way from a family illness to a personality clash or sheer boredom. At the extremes of fantasy, it could even be a salary dispute (as Kohs suggested) or intimidation by a security agency in the manner of A Very British Coup (TV version). No one is likely to ever tell us if my wild guesses are remotely true.

One thing it couldn't have been: surfing explicit material at work, as that is a necessary part of the job ( viz 2010 Wikimedia Study of Controversial Content ).