Carsten,
you seem to suggest that we should get someone to act as "secretary" for
debates on the IETF list - now that's a novel and interesting concept!
(I've seen "moderator" used in 2 ways - the "summarize and state consensus"
role Carsten mentions below, and the "sanction inappropriate behaviour"
role that is commonly used with "mailing list moderator" - these roles
don't have to be done by the same person....)
Two questions for the community:
- Is this a good idea?
- Does the person exist who could do a good job and is willing to do it?
Food for thought indeed!
Harald
--On torsdag, april 03, 2003 23:55:12 +0200 Carsten Bormann <cabo(_at_)tzi(_dot_)org>
wrote:
One more point: An argument does not become stronger by being repeated
more often.
Of the 175 senders to this list last month, 20 of us contributed more
than half the list traffic. If we have made our position clear, the
argument is, I think, stronger if it is not repeated - and silence
allows other voices to be heard.
Harald,
while I strongly agree with this entire message, there is also a danger
of a "silent majority" in a mailing list. I believe the approach cited
works best with a moderator that periodically attempts summaries of the
results of the discussion. In WG mailing lists, this can be done by the
working group chair. It's not clear who is playing this role in this list.
(And I'm not trying to imply you should.)
Gruesse, Carsten