[Foundation-l] Returning to Foundation-L

[Michael Bimmler]

On Feb 1, 2008 8:51 PM, Brian <Brian.Mingus at colorado.edu> wrote:
> Welcome back. I've been wondering what the result of the recent discussion
> on this list with regards to raising the level of conversation would be. I
> hope we haven't forgotten already. Jimbo characterized this list as
> 'increasingly useless as a mailing list because it is so frequently
> dominated by people who seem to be very "bitter and mean-spirited" to the
> point that they are on the attack no matter what happens.' With the
> Foundation increasingly becoming more of a formal organization this comment
> (which I consider to be true) bothers me tremendously. We need a venue for
> transparent communication between the community and the Foundation where all
> parties feel comfortable speaking. Why was this particular comment not
> moderated?
>

The one that triggered Mike's departure?
Um, how would you moderate comments?
The system works so, that you moderate *persons*, i.e. once a person
has been given the moderation flag, all of his/her posts must be
pre-approved by a moderator.
Gregory Maxwell, who made the comment in question, had previously not
been on moderation (and there was no reason why he should have been).
So, quite obviously, his comment went through without any need for
approval.

Austin and I have discussed the particular comment with Gregory quite
extensively and, for the record, he elaborated on his comments in
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2008-January/037795.html
 and clarified his intention.  From a list moderator's POV, I consider
this "case" dealt with.

Michael