Refactoring

Refactoring is to choose or change wiki page titles to resolve a terminology dispute or try to minimize the chances that one will arise.

The more titles need to be changed, the more likely someone will dispute one or more of the changes. Usually an ontology or at least a ferocious troll with a vast capacity to remember conflicting meanings of words and overloads of terms is required to resolve disputes. Such trolls make reasonable editors because they lack technological powers. Larry Sanger for instance was a not-perfect but not-bad Chief Editor of Wikipedia from its founding for over a year, and he always refused sysop powers and relied wholly on persuasion. As Larry was grouchy, he always had lots of enemies to keep him from abusing his paid position...

The main problem with such a position is if the editor is friends with the owner: It is a bad thing if the editor who resolves refactoring issues is also in, or trusted in, the sysop power structure. This is as undesirable as letting a judge who is the cop's brother try a case where the cop testifies...

A good reputation with the sysops is bad, as it decreases the odds that any error in refactoring will be notice. A hated troll fighting off various inquisitors tends to be the best refactor, as they can do literally nothing, even simple corrections of errors, without scrutiny placed on it. This logic breaks down, along with all other sanity and purpose, if ad hominem revert and (worse from the point of view of refactoring) ad hominem deletes occur. Such simple vandalism by sysops often leaves a "black hole" or permanent open link in the midst of an important set of articles, which no one is likely to fill in, to avoid attracting the attention of the inquisitor or being caught up and accused of "being the troll" in a witch-hunt led by them or by anyone else.