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. :-)
------------------
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