Jeffrey,
First, thanks for the constructive input. It gives us all a more constructive focus for the conversation.
To the group as a whole (including Jeffrey),
My concern can, perhaps, be illustrated with our latest email storm. Frankly, I'm not all that troubled by the occasional off topic thread. I prefer keeping a relaxed atmosphere on this list. The initial off-topic post really didn't bother me, but the storm of messages about what the rules should be seemed to be the real source of discomfort to many of us. And therein lies the problem. Whatever line we establish as the boundary between acceptable posts and unacceptable posts, there is likely to be some gray area. What do we do in cases where gray area posts provoke email storms? Are we to declare that discussions of what is on or off topic are, themselves, off topic and not allowed on this list? If we decide that such discussions are permissible, then the bulk of the problem we just experienced may not actually be addressed by the solution we are proposing.
The next question is, regardless of whether or not the proposed solution will do any good, how likely is it that the proposed solution will do harm. I think a rather subtle kind of harm can be done by any moderation scheme that exercises a high degree of control. As an example, I think it impedes discussion, somewhat, to delay each new message until a moderator approves it. Personally I would rather suffer the occasional off-topic post than suffer the effect that sort of positive control moderation would have on discussion.
Even with the least restrictive forms of moderation, we would have to have some sort of enforcement mechanism. Ultimately, that enforcement mechanism would have to control who is allowed to post to the list. My experience with other moderated lists is that there are complications some people end up complaining about when they are faced with list management software trying to control who has the right to post to lists. People who are unhappy to be shut out can find creative ways to re-enroll on the list as a phony new user, and such tactics force list management software filter incoming email in some interesting ways. These filtering methods can be similar or identical to the filtering techniques used to fight spam. My own opinion is that we'll have to deal with some kind of filtering sooner or later just to address spam, if we don't already, so I'm not opposed a kind of moderation where we advise people after the fact when their posts are inappropriate and we ban them if they prove themselves unwilling to listen. I'd still like us to construe the acceptable range of topics to be very large rather than very limited. The harm done by very relaxed, after the fact moderation could be relatively minor.
In general, whatever we choose to do, I would like to see this list attempt to be welcoming to anyone in the area who has a interest in Linux. To accomplish this, I would like to see the list tolerate brief tangents into non-Linux topics. I would not, myself, welcome protracted discussions of religion, but I would rather see those discussions rather than see topic police pouncing on every mention of something non-Linux related.
Finally, whatever restrictions we endorse, they should be crafted as clear principles. The moderation standards should not be dependent on the popularity of the speaker. They should not vary depending the mood of the most irritable members on any given day. They should be spelled on, on line, and it should be easy for anyone reading them to know what's okay and what's not okay.
Adrian