[WikiEN-l] Re: #wikipedia-en-admins

[Sam Fentress (Asbestos)]

On 1/23/06, Peter Mackay <peter.mackay at bigpond.com> wrote:

>
> I don't think anyone is disputing the desirability of having an admin
> discussion list where non-admins can't post. Non-admins shouldn't be able
> to
> participate in such a list, and the reasons given above go a long way
> towards justifying this.



I think some people are disputing precisely this.  I hate the idea of an
admin-only room, list or anything else. It's written in a dozen places all
over the project: Admins are janitors; admins just get to use a few extra
buttons; admins are not above regular editors; adminship should be no big
deal.

There is nothing that we could discuss that we would need to bad others from
listening to and contributing to. Policy? Nowhere is it written or even
suggested that admins only make policy. Blocking decisions? This is always
open on the wiki and admin decisions are always transparent and open to
accountability. How to use admin buttons? Use a talk page, write an email,
or go to #wikipedia. People we don't like? Edit wars we'd like assistance
on? Notable polls we want our friends voting in? If people need to discuss
any of these things, there are plenty of other venues.

This isn't a trivial matter. Outside of email lists, this is the first time
(as far as I'm aware) that we have any forum designed specifically to hide
from the rest of the community, to discuss things in secret, to set one
group over and above another.

I'm not against an admin-oriented channel: just against a hidden, exclusive,
admin-only channel.

Sam

--
Asbestos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Asbestos