On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 5:42 PM, Risker risker.wp@gmail.com wrote:
It's a bit unclear what problem this list (these lists?) would be intended to solve.
Great comments, Risker.
For one, we don't always do things to "solve problems" - sometimes we do things because they are experimental or synergistic.
Content disputes? is there a reason why we would want people to discuss
content disputes off-wiki? Seems to me one of the main allegations we hear at the Arbitration Committee is excess off-wiki communication related to content.
Excellent point. In a certain way, it seems that there must be some limitation upon what depth content disputes may be discussed on list. In another respect, a certain integration between talk page and list discussion may help to 1) abstract conflicts from being localized to unseen talk pages, and 2) bring abstract general-interest attention to specific talk pages. In reality, this is the way wikien-l used to work, before it got all abstractified and focused exclusively on talking about what newspapers are saying about us.
Behaviour disputes? How will a mailing list address these better than
current processes? (Note, I'm not a big fan of RFCs, but I would like to hear a rationale about why mailing lists are better.) What if the person(s) whose behaviour is the subject of the mailing list thread chooses not to join the mailing list?
Indeed, the list should not replace anything else. Rather it should give people an eagle-eye view of disputes, and from this vantage this offers a certain extra dimension to using RFC's, etc.
Interpersonal disputes? Again, how is a mailing list better? and what
happens when only one party joins the mailing list?
Very good point. Again, as far as specific conflicts go, it would be more of an announce list. As far as general discussion goes, well this aspect at least to my mind is quite necessary, as general discussion on talk pages is not useful to anyone.
-Stevertigo