Articles

• In re Douglas Myers editorial: Questions without Answer
• Say NO to Feed Cuts
• SuperPlanet

In re Douglas Myers editorial: Questions without Answers

Kay Shapero (1:102/125)
kay.shapero@salata.com
Moderator: BABYLON5, FILK
Assistant Moderator: SFFAN

Well, I'd say one of your problems is that the sheer volume of argumentative posts to appear on MODERATOR lately has pretty much made it impossible to actually *read* everything in the echo if you have any pretense to an off-line life... Certainly I never saw any reference to the survey, and I doubt I'm the only one.

OK, as a moderator my response to the following is:

TM> 1. A moderator is the final authority in his own echo.
TM> 2. A BBS sysop is the final authority on his own BBS.
TM>
TM> The problem is that these principles can be conflicting
TM>without some kind of consensus between the moderators and the
TM>sysops.

I'd treat it as one of those "your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose" circumstances. A moderator cannot force a BBS sysop to carry his/her echo and a BBS sysop cannot force a moderator to send the sysop that echo.

TM> Should the moderator seek feed cuts at increasingly higher
TM>levels to maintain his authority, knowing that a feed cut beyond
TM>the original BBS is likely to cut his echo to many of his other
TM>participants?

I'd call that a judgement call on the part of the moderator. If it's really that serious, there are probably ways to route around the problem system. I would say that the moderator has the right to request a cut at any level, but would be wise to rethink things if the problem persisted up to the region level.

There is no point in the sysop trying to "second guess" the moderator any more than there is any point in the moderator telling the sysop how to organize his/her bbs. However, any sysop who does not agree with the moderator's action has the right to discuss it with the moderator in netmail.

Say NO to Feed Cuts
Gordon Lewicky
1:153/307

This article is extracted from an echomail message to Steve Stacher originally appearing in the area MODERATOR.
--------

SS> So how does a Moderator remove an unruly, obnoxious and
SS> disruptive user?

By removing the user's posts, and not by removing all those innocent other users from the system. Just because they belong to a bbs whose sysop is a echo twit, does this mean they are all guilty by association?

That is what all of you are saying who insist that feed cuts should be made. What we need to do, is work on a way to cul the twit user's posts from the echo in the uplink packets. Plain and simple. It's what I've been advocating all along. Remove the poster, NOT the feed!

This is strictly my opinion, but I truly believe that anyone who is adamant about having feed cuts, is solely operating on an egotistical and childish basis, has no concern what so ever about all the other users in their echo, and simply wants to be the bully on the block who stands on the other side of the street, sticking his tongue out at the twit sysop, saying "Nyah, nyah. I showed you!"

We, all of us, moderators and sysops, should be striving to make it easy for all of us to remove the twit's posts!! That is the only decent solution, and we just remove their posts, not hundreds of others!

Maybe that bbs is the only one in the area. Maybe that echo gives some poor shutin their only pleasure for the day! Removing that twit sysop's feed just destroys the happiness of a total innocent!

Hey moderators... feel free to not think about all the others if your only intention is to throw weight around and stroke your ego.

I dunno if this is coming across correctly, but I am totally opposed to we, as Fido, allowing any one person the power to feed cut, and especially not allow that power to reside in a moderator's hands!

When you get right down to it, feed cuts are just ego trips, and when you enter Fido you should park your ego at the door! :)

I know ego's are rampant, sysops and moderators both, but someday, I would like to see a totally mature bunch of people in Fido with socially conscious views towards all the users. We are mostly this, but there are a few children out there!

Feed cuts only hurt users.

I look after my users. My bbs wouldn't exist without them. Fido doesn't exist without them. It is up to all of us, sysops and moderators both, to do our damnedest to look after our users!

I will always look out for them and fight any ego tripper!

Sorry, I can never lighten up on this subject, as long as there are ego trippers out there who don't care about users. :)

Somebody has to care about the little guy! Somebody has to care about the people whose only link to the world is through Fido, because they can't afford it any other way! Spending all what little money they have on drugs and nursing support, medical bills! Using donated 286's with 2400 modems.

Their only bright spot in the day is a reply in an echo!!

All you moderators who have asked for feed cuts, ever think about them? Or are you just trying to exert power?

Come on moderators... be truthful... look deep inside you and say that you honestly considered the little guy when you demanded a feed cut!

I think not!

Am I making this up? Not on your life!! I have a few users in this situation and Fido IS one of their few happinesses! I'm sure you'll find quite a few Fido BBSes with users like this, if not the majority of Fido bbses!

If moderators won't or don't care about them, I WILL AND DO!

Heheh.. I'm surprised EC's and hubs aren't jumping on me, as most of what I'm advocating only affects them and increases their workload! ;) But that's what programs are for. No big deal to have a twit remover program sitting inbetween receive and toss! :)

A program made available to all nodes with downlinks, and one that also sends twit reports to their uplink, which carries on up, collecting all the other twit reports and ending up in the NEC's and REC's systems, so all is out in the open, with the resultant report file made available by freq'ing the appropriate EC's.

Then we all could see the twits in every net, within our region, and the regions could see the zone. Makes sense to me.

Poof... bad poster not posting! Moderator happy!

Poof... mail still moves! Sysop happy!

Poof... bad posters are known, in case they try to jump nets, regions, zones! Bad poster unhappy!

Poof... person typing with a pencil in their mouth, or using speech software, still receives their mail! Estatic!

Poof... I'm outta here! :)

--
| Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/720@fidonet.org
| Internet: doug@mdtnbbs.com
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ]

SuperPlanet

Henk,

As we have strategically repositioned our business, I must respectfully ask that you please remove all references and files relating to CD Streamer from your web site(s), if such references or files exist. We've had web users contact us about issues with out of date versions of the software they claim to have obtained on fidonet.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Laurent Guy
President
SuperPlanet Inc.

PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE FULL TEXT OF THIS NOTE IN ANY REPLY.

Regards,

SuperPlanet Inc.
http://superplanet.com/