Larry Sanger should be a happy man today.

Larry who? you might ask. Well yes, you see, that's the problem. Sanger's had a long-ranging row with Wikipedia in general and Jimmy Wales in particular about his status as co-founder of the world's largest encyclopedia.

Back up to 2000 for a second. Sanger was hired as editor-in-chief of Nupedia, Wales' first stab at creating an online encyclopedia. Nupedia, however, was written by experts and, as those who follow Wikipedia lore well know, took forever to crank out a tiny number of articles. According to Sanger, Wales wanted something that worked better, so Sanger proposed the Wiki-based model that became the online reference that we all know and love.

Sanger parted ways with Wikipedia in 2002 and since then, has charged the organization and Wales of trying to downplay his role. The issue came to a head earlier this year when he wrote an open letter to Wales, accusing him of leaving Sanger out of the story and taking credit for Sanger's work.

Which is why Sanger should feel validated today. Silicon Alley Insider published a story on Tech's Forgotten Co-Founders, including the likes of Microsoft's Paul Allen and Yahoo's David Filo. And who's front and center in the piece? The good Mr. Sanger.

Photo: Wikiemdia Commons (Creative Commons license)