I waited a considerable time, and then when I logged in this morning, I had a nice letter from Abe about his sysop application, and I liked it, and I posted a declaration about it. Ah, good, wikilove, I thought: a controversial person, but...
And only *after* that did I see the quotes from him, SHOUTING AT CUNC and so on. And two highly respected contributors adding their opposition to his sysophood.
But, I already made a declaration, and it'd be the worse for all of us if I acted in a wishy-washy fashion on such things. However, I do want to acknowledge the opposition and express my regrets at having made a decision before hearing all sides.
So, he's a sysop now, and NEXT TIME, please let's not hold our tongues. If you're concerned (and you should be, of course!) that your opposition might be viewed as inflammatory on the list, then write to me privately. And quickly. Of course I'll hold confidences as requested. And I can try to synthesize the objections into a coherent and helpful decision for all parties.
In the meantime, I strongly recommend to Abe/172 to LAY OFF THE CAPS LOCK and LAY OFF ANY TALK OF BANNING ANYONE. :-)
And let's all try to relax and make the best of things.
And of course, as always, and as for all of us, the position of sysop is to be regarded as purely technical, and there is a priestly obligation NOT to use it as a power tool.
In this case, 172's application was already held up (filibustered in the Senate of my subconscious, I guess) for an embarassingly long time as compared to others, and I felt a need to act favorably upon receipt of his nice letter.
--Jimbo