[gentoo-dev] Smoother moderation scheme? (was: ML changes)

[Thomas Tuttle]

Okay, I thought of a potential modification that might make this a
little more friendly.  Moderate all non-dev posts by default, but pass
their posts after a certain time period if nobody checks the queue, and
put a few people in charge of whitelisting positive contributors.  If
whitelisted posters create problems, move them to another moderated
state where their posts are not automatically approved and they do not
automatically gain whitelisted status.

This way, anyone who has productive things to say can contribute easily,
because of the automatic posting.  Regular, useful posters will soon be
freed from this delay, and will be able to post freely.  But anyone who
causes noise can be sentenced to permanent moderation (i.e., their posts
always have to be approved), and anyone who causes trouble can be
blacklisted.

Here's a detailed explanation:

If a poster is a dev (or an arch tester?), they start in the Whitelisted
state, otherwise start in the Lightly Moderated state.

In the following parts, "spam" is a post that, unquestionably, as a
matter of solid fact, is completely and *intentionally* off-topic, or a
flame/troll/etc... that does not also contain any useful discussion of
Gentoo.  Note that this does *not* include users who accidentally post
to the wrong list, or on-topic but nasty messages.  "annoying things"
are things like "Me too!" posts or threads that wander off-topic. 
Basically, "spam" is things that are totally worthless, and "annoying
things" are things that are somewhat on-topic but inappropriate for
other reasons.

In the Lightly Moderated state:
  All posts are moderated.
    If a post is not approved within a certain amount of time, it is
    automatically posted.
  If the poster:
    1. posts a certain number of good messages,
    2. is approved by a dev, or
    3. becomes a dev,
      Then they go to the Whitelisted state.
  If the poster posts spam:
    They go to the Blacklisted state.

In the Heavily Moderated state:
  All posts are moderated.
    Posts do not automatically pass through after a delay.
  If the poster:
    1. posts a certain number of good messages,
    2. is approved by a dev, or
    3. becomes a dev,
      Then they go to the Whitelisted state.
  If the poster posts spam:
    They go to the Blacklisted state.

In the Whitelisted state:
  All posts are passed through automatically.
  If the poster posts annoying things:
    They will go to the Heavily Moderated state.
  If the poster posts spam:
    They go to the Blacklisted state.

In the Blacklisted state:
  All posts are dumped, period.
  The poster might return to the Heavily Moderated state after a delay.
    Perhaps the delay doubles each time the poster is sent to the
    Blacklisted state.

The only people eligible to moderate are devs in the whitelisted state.

Questions?  Comments?

Thanks,

Thomas Tuttle
-- 
Thomas Tuttle - ttuttle@×××××××.net - http://www.ttuttle.net/

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