[LINK] Alleged List Moderation

[Robin Whittle]

Hi James,

Thanks for your supportive message.  BTW, I am a he - "Robin" is a boy's
name in England, where I was born.

Every mailing list does in fact have controls on its content.  To say
that Link is "unmoderated" is probably not true, depending on however
"moderated" is interpreted.

For instance, whoever owns/controls/moderates Link would in fact
intervene if there was a flood of stuff they found intolerable.

Another form of "moderation" not mentioned on the homepage:

  http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link

is that Mailman rejects messages which are longer than a certain limit,
and/or which contain attachments.

For instance, yesterday, a list member posted a message with an attached
.PNG file.  Mailman rejected it.  This is not mentioned in the "charter".

I think if it became commonplace for large emails, including with
attached images or whatever, to be part of the Link traffic, then there
would be calls by list members for the Amigos to exercise control over
the matter.

I support this aspect of list moderation.  It is better if people link
to the file, rather than attempt to include it in the mailing list
traffic and archives.  The file was by Randall Munroe:

  http://xkcd.com/radiation/  http://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/radiation.png


  - Robin













On 28/03/2011 1:48 AM, James Devenish wrote:
> 2 cents from a lurker,
> 
> Accusations are flying. My understanding is that submissions from
> non-subscribers are moderated, and postings from members go straight
> to the list - there is currently no step at which censorship can
> occur.
> 
> Surely, we can agree that 'unmoderated' doesn't mean 'anarchic'.
> Common sense puts limits on SPAM, abuse, and illegality on the list -
> perhaps this is why this list (and its predecessor) is limited to
> subscribers only. Unlink, too, was for 'subscribers only' (unless my
> memory is wrong, I remember sending my subscription request when the
> list was created).
> 
> Most recently, it seems that Robin expressed her personal opinion that
> Tom K should not discourage the nuclear power discussion on- or
> off-list. Somehow, this is being construed as censorship and threats
> of censorship. The equivalent attempts at 'thought control' against
> Robin are no better. I saw assertive feedback and speculation, but not
> censorship. Why not support a sense of calm instead of vilifying
> people for their faux pas?
> 
> I've heard of sysadmins' day and secretaries' day, but not list
> moderators' day. Give someone a break, maybe?
> 
> - James
> _______________________________________________
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> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link