To clarify, I'm not going to fight this thing tooth and nail, but I have reservations.
I'm guessing your concern is that moderation would make the project less open. And who can deny that moderating the list makes the project slightly less open, and that indeed that is a bad thing. I totally agree with that. But alas it also appears to be a necessary thing, or so I think, which is why I call it a "necessary evil." If we keep our moderators properly reined in (by making sure they have a set of rules that they are to follow), I think we can minimize the damage in this regard.
Well, it isn't _necessarily_ less open in any relevant sense. It can actually lead to greater diversity of views if we get more people subscribed because of the lower volume. Now, a few loud voices (like me) dominate through sheer volume if nothing else.
I thought your view of the role of moderators was a little bit expansive and risky. But moderation with a very light touch can of course do wonders without imposing any serious burden on the legitimate expression of ideas.
I really am more concerned with speed and vibrancy. If we have multiple moderators (the more the merrier, I guess), then this is less of a concern, as the lag between posting and sending out will be reasonably short.
Remember, you were a great moderator of a list in the distant past, Jimbo, and it's safe to say that it was your moderatorship that made it the great list it was.
Ah, an appeal to my vanity! This is always a good tactic, if for no other reason that I'm too lazy to engage in the endless self-promotion that I desire. :-)
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I just quit a mailing list (related to parenting, nothing to do with wikipedia) in disgust because the actions of the moderators were entirely arbitrary. That list had a strict rule against "meta", by which they meant "commenting on the discussion itself". For various reasons which I can explain in a tedious diatribe if anyone asks, this is an incoherent rule, which cannot be enforced fairly.
I wasn't considered a "bad guy" on the list when I left, quite the contrary, I hope. The list will not be as good, by a little bit at least, without me there. And I can't say that the moderators were really "bad", either. They were tasked with something impossible.
I'm thinking that if we moderate, I am going to get complaints about the moderation. But I get complaints about everything anyway, so that's not such a big deal I guess. :-)
--Jimbo