Okay, I'll make one now: invite-only IRC chats don't seem like the
right way to take actions with sufficient transparency and goodwill.
Apparently you haven't done your research: Invite-only was recinded within
48 hours of implementation.
And I'm not a fan of the invite-only status either; I forget whose decision
it was, but it was unilateral and makes everything a lot more cumbersome
than it needs to be.
It was my decision, the decision of the channel owner. Freenode policy says:
Channels on freenode are owned and operated by the groups which register
them. I registered it, I own it. It does not belong to the CVU, or to
Wikipedia, it belongs to me, and I set the policy for the channel. If you
register your own channel, you'll be able to set whatever policies you like
for it.
The reason the channel is no longer open to unconfirmed users is to prevent
the discussions in the channel (discussions about current vandalism to
Wikipedia, about how vandals are able to vandalize the site, information
that is practically a bootcamp for would-be vandals) from being used against
Wikipedia. Established Wikipedia users are still welcome in the channel, and
no user with an established Wikipedia account has been denied access to the
channel. Any user who is denied is welcome to appeal the denial directly to
me; the how-to page makes that quite clear.
As for unilateral, wrong. The decision was mine to make, and I was not
required to consult with anyone, but I did consult with the
high-access-level long-term users of the channel, and we agreed on how to
proceed. As for cumbersome, anyone who finds taking 10 seconds to write "My
IRC nick is XYZ. ~~~~" too cumbersome to bear is welcome to use
#wikipedia-en-vandalism2, where the same bot reports can be found, without
the chatter.
As far as I'm concerned, this is just one disgruntled user looking for
something to criticize. It has been one thing after another; when one
baseless criticism is deflated, another takes its place. Allow me to deflate
the most recent one: How I run my channel is quite frankly none of your
business. If you're so worried about it, feel free to take the bot source
(which is freely published) and start your own channel. Now, I'm sure you
have a new baseless criticism to hurl, please, be my guest.
Essjay
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Essjay
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Essjay
Wikipedia:The Free Encyclopedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/