On 5/31/07, Chris Howie cdhowie@nerdshack.com wrote:
.... Then we have all of these cases where experienced editors must take grief to give an obvious vandal one more chance. The ideal is great, but what usually happens in practice is that we lose the good editor and the vandal doesn't stop.
I have not seen any case where giving a bad faith vandal some extra room has resulted in them becoming a regular good faith contributor. I have seen cases where a good faith editor leaves because they are continually harassed by a bad faith editor or troll who is being given another chance.
The way I see it, we have to make a choice between someone we know is a good contributor, and someone who might be one someday, but probably won't.
Bringing in new blood only works if the new blood actually helps the project. There is a greater risk we'll lose someone good than bring someone good in. We can attract good editors without relying on this "conversion of vandals" idea.
I'm not advocating that we block immediately, but apply some common sense. If you think you're dealing with a troll, and an editor is upset by him, weigh the consequences. *I'd rather risk offending someone who is well-intentioned but causing disruption than someone who's established as a good editor.
*-- Chris Howie http://www.chrishowie.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Crazycomputers
But you're in the minority there. KP