@JeffJensen: Do you think Intertech would be willing to host a TCLUG meeting in early January? I'd like to propose electing officers, setting goals for the year, and giving the group a purpose. I really appreciate Rick's email. It makes me realize that being a group gives us an opportunity, that we have been failing to seize, and that we also have a responsibility to our community. There is a lot we could do if we worked together to reach out to a younger generation, and I think it would be a great thing for the group to do. One of the items for the agenda would be email list moderation. Who? How? What are the rules? Thoughts? -Erik On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 11:22 AM, Erik Anderson <erikerik at gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 8:52 AM, Erik Mitchell <erik.mitchell at gmail.com> > wrote: >> >> It's not really doing much harm, in my opinion, and to the extent that >> it is, I think a person who is a moderator could email someone >> off-list and ask them to stop, and if they don't, then ban them from >> the list, or take away privileges, or whatever. > > > It's about respect - both of the individuals on this list and the purpose of > the list itself. No one likes being preached at, and especially not within > the context of technical conversation. There are indeed places where > preaching/ranting/whatever are appropriate. Technical mailing lists are not > one of those places. > > Agreed, though, I would be perfectly happy if a mod would reach out to > people personally - that's exactly what should happen. We just haven't heard > anything, which communicates implicitly that off-topic, divisive behavior is > tolerated. > >> >> I'd prefer to err on the side of inclusion. This isn't an IEEE mailing >> list, it's a LUG mailing list. A small one at that, for a group that >> hardly ever meets, and when it does, it meets for beer. I'm actually >> less annoyed by trolling than I am at seeing experienced interneters >> feeding the trolls*, and then getting mad that their inbox is being >> flooded with nonsense. > > > I think we're all perfectly capable of ignoring trolls. It's an essential > skill. That doesn't mean that trolling is an acceptable behavior, or that > which should be allowed. > > I've been in far too many communities, technical and otherwise, where > off-topic, disrespectful behavior was tolerated and in *every* instance, the > community disintegrated. I don't want that for TCLUG. I want to attract > *more* people here, but with the current drama level, no one in their right > mind is going to sign up to be preached at regularly. There are plenty of > other well-run mailing lists, forums, etc. where they can go. > > I was actually somewhat saddened while talking to people at the AWS > re:Invent conference a few weeks ago. I would mention that I'm from the Twin > Cities, and they'd ask how the technical community is in this area. I > explained that we have a *lot* of technical folks here, both on the software > development side as well as the sysadmin/operations side, but that the > opportunities to gather and exchange ideas are few and far between. I would > absolutely *love* to see TCLUG (and other local groups like it) flourish. > One key thing that will help this happen is indeed to cut out (as much as > possible) discussion and/or members that will alienate people. Cripes, > perhaps I'm one of those, and if so then so be it. I'd hope that's not the > case, though. > >> >> Perhaps enough of us care that we should reassign responsibilities to >> people who might be interested in more active leadership? Should we >> have a new group of moderators? Should we elect a new >> president/supreme ruler? > > > +1. I'd at least like to hear who is on the mod list currently. If those > people are not actively involved on the list, then things should be switched > up. > > -Erik > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > -- Erik K. Mitchell erik.mitchell at gmail.com