On Thu, 2004-02-26 at 16:10, Gareth Owen wrote:
"Poor, Edmund W" Edmund.W.Poor@abc.com writes:
> How many people want admins to have the Authority to temp-ban any user > who (in their opinion) has violated a community rule?
Yes, please.
Troublemakers (like Wik, Iriskook and Plautus) only have to show a slight bit of subtlety and we bend over backwards to please them, frequently alienating actual, useful contributors.
Gareth Owen
Oh, please no.
The dangers are more salient than the benefits. We can afford to lose any number of users to exasperation with vandals and trolls. What we can not afford is to create (even with the best of intentions) a insular culture of obeisance and initiatory progression through the ranks. Sysophood is already too often withheld from unpopular users(/users holding unpopular views). Openness is the jewel of wikipedia, and it should be protected at nearly any cost.
I understand the will to prevent useful users from leaving in frustration, but we must be more concerned about the whole of wikipedia, than any one, or even several users. "The law created before me, shall outlast me." As much as it pains us all, it is _most_ important to lay down rules which can be justified without reference to current cases, and personages.
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen (aka Cimon Avaro)