On Thu, 22 May 2003, steven l. rubenstein wrote:
Brion, I think that ultimately, you are right -- vigilance and patient deletion or reversion is the only way to deal with such a troll. But even reverting crap is a form of swatting. If the question is whether we simply ignore someone and let them do what they want, or act in some way against vandalism, it seems we all agree on some form of action.
The question is, what form. From context it seems like you are arguing against banning. Well -- and I raise this as a general question, not just concerning No-FX -- would you ban under any circumstances?
Oh, sure; indeed I have made bans where it seemed appropriate. A visit to [[Special:Ipblocks]] will show that. But repeatedly "banning" the same person over and over, when proven ineffective with that person, is rather pointless. The social effects of the ban haven't discouraged the person (indeed, perhaps encouraged them), and they've found a way around the very simple technical effects of the ban.
Obviously a change in strategy is required if we want to do anything other than re-ban Lir and Michael all day long. To continue to use the same strategy that we *know* is ineffective is neurotic.
-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)