On Feb 6, 2004, at 05:08, Tim Starling wrote:
In response to the burden placed on developers in administering sysop access on the various wikis, and the dangerous nature of manual SQL queries, a new feature has been implemented, as proposed by Brion and implemented by E23 (Snok). This feature creates a new level of access called "bureaucrat". Bureacrats are able to create sysops on any wiki, even if they do not have an account at the target wiki.
Unfortunately this part of the feature has spawned more rules and bureaucracy, which is what we were trying to avoid. ;)
The intent is for the users of each wiki -- particularly the newer, smaller projects -- to more effectively manage their own affairs by eliminating the requirement to beg an outsider to review and perform every change. As such we're taking out the ability to make sysops on other wikis; worry over this lead to the creation of rules and red tape that made it impossible for the target audience to be allowed to deal with their own affairs.
There's also been some talk of just merging sysop-making into the regular powers of a sysop. (As always, sysops are expected to follow the community consensus rules on using their powers, which never EVER confer editorial authority. Sysop powers are technical conveniences ONLY.)
-- brion vibber (brion @ pobox.com)