Inappropriate tone on this mailing list and requirement for governance

[Loïc Martin]

Brian McKee wrote:
> I didn't really see anything new in there other than the suggestion
> that ettitiqute related pointers be sent off list.
> And that doesn't work in my opinion because it means he'll get twenty
> of them from twenty well meaning souls,
> since none of them saw one posted previously.    If it's a polite and
> constructive comment, it belongs on list.
As I mentioned, it's just pre-written advices copy/pasted (with 
discretion) only by the moderators, with of course the possibility for 
the subscriber to reply to the moderator when they don't understand how 
to achieve the desired effect (and if it becomes a technical issue, like 
how to set-up an obscure linux mail client so it doesn't send HTML by 
default, that can become a relevant topic for ubuntu-users, in which 
case the poster would be encouraged to open the relevant thread in the 
list). As the knowledge base grows, we can enhance the Ubuntu wiki 
(which offers the possibility to add screen captures) and point to it.

Users of the list would be informed that such "common mistakes" are 
taken care off-list, and since it's always been the same people it 
should be straightforward. New users that overlook that and reply with 
advices in-list can be also informed off-list (pre-written advices, 
again, so no question of "secrecy" there).

Off-list replies in those case prevent the list to get those regular off 
topic messages (since even when done in-list you get 5 messages saying 
the same thing again and again before everybody realises it has been 
answered). Making it a policy ensures it becomes a habit to leave that 
to moderators.

> Threads can't be 'moved' or 'locked' - this is a mailing list not a forum.
See my previous explanation of "locked" in my reply to Rez.

> The bulk of the rest of it clearly echoes the commentary made by many
> people already.
That's good to hear.

> PS  Hopefully this didn't come of as critical of Loïc - We agree in
> spirit certainly!
Perfectly ok. Actually I'd rather I got some critics, since it would 
help the discussion. At the moment, except for people expressing they 
want to keep the list as it is (which isn't going to happen, since the 
owners of the list aren't happy with it), I haven't yet noticed 
suggestions on how differently moderators could better address matters.

Loïc