Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 August 14

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

August 14

Can WIKI be used

I am wondering if this website can be used to get information from people in a specific place (certain state) about a specific issue within that place? EXAMPLE: I could post about a certain issue or topic within a certain county. Such as " What does our county need more of". Only people within the county or region could comment on this post. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.171.17.193 (talk) 17:19, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia - based on material previously published elsewhere. It is not a means of collecting opinions from readers or contributors. AndyTheGrump (talk) 17:22, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

I interpreted your Q a bit differently, as to whether the wiki format can be used. The answer to that is yes, and you could perform a check on the user's I/P address to verify their region. However, that check could be fooled by use of an anonymous server in another region. StuRat (talk) 18:13, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

I think the question is whether it is possible to set up a private wiki to use for a specific type of collaborative editing. The answer is yes, there are several ways that can be done. One is to use the freely available MediaWiki software to set up your own server, but that requires substantial expertise and resources. Another way is to use Wikia, a free wiki-hosting service. Looie496 (talk) 19:32, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

Warmonger Achievement Unlocked?

So who is the serviceman who has served in the most conflicts, and at the front lines? (Non pen pusher) I mean, imagine fighting in WW1, WW2, The Korean War and Vietnam. Is there such a thing? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.195.27.47 (talk) 19:56, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

From a 10 second google; perhaps Adrian Carton de Wiart (6 wars), Lauri Törni (1 war but for 3 countries) or Basil L. Plumley (3 wars). Nanonic (talk) 20:14, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Lauri Törni also fought in the Vietnam War (athough by then he was called Larry Thorne). Iapetus (talk) 10:20, 18 August 2015 (UTC)

There's lots of men who have fought in many wars, I don't know if we can definitively give an answer. Just from memory, the famous soldier-statesman-colonial leader Prince Rupert of the Rhine fought in many, I looked him up and found at least a whole bunch of wars he served in: The War of Dutch Independence, the Thirty Years War, the English Civil Wars (which could be considered several separate wars), the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59) and possibly the Fronde, the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Third Anglo-Dutch War, etc. --Jayron32 03:19, 15 August 2015 (UTC)

If you go back further, to (for example) the Three Kingdoms period in China or the Sengoku period in Japan you'll find eras when warfare was pretty much constant for hundreds of years at a time. I daresay one of the professional soldiers of such times might hold the record for engaging in the most conflicts, but I doubt there'd be a record of it. This may not be a question that can be answered with any degree of certainty. Yunshui ^雲_水 10:42, 18 August 2015 (UTC)