allbery@ncoast.UUCP (Brandon S. Allbery) (10/05/87)
This is the official announcement that I will cease being the moderator of
comp.binaries.ibm.pc as of October 30. I am looking for a replacement
moderator for the group; this article will give some guidelines to follow
if you wish to suggest a new moderator or offer to become the moderator.
I haven't noticed anything approximating an official policy or suggested
procedure for finding a new moderator for a newsgroup, hence the suggestions
below.
First, since a moderator is a potent being (at least within the confines of
his/her newsgroup), it's a good idea to allow the net users at large to
consider any applicant for the job. To this end, I would suggest that any
who wish to become the moderator or wish to suggest someone as moderator
_not_ send mail to me, but instead to post an article to news.groups.
(If you don't read news.groups, you should, as this is where the important
issues regarding newsgroups are decided.)
Second, you should feel free to comment on any suggested moderators. THIS
DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD FEEL FREE TO FLAME THEM. If you can't be constructive,
either remain silent or confine your remarks to alt.flame.
Third, metadiscussions (meaning, discussion of the guidelines for choosing
a new moderator) should probably be mailed to me. If it's constructive and
of general interest, it can be posted to news.groups and/or news.admin; this
article is itself proof that such articles are needed badly by the net.
Four, I cannot guarantee that the choice of a new moderator will follow the
suggestions of the net, but I can promise that I will take such suggestions
into consideration. (And, of course, I could be overridden myself by the
backbone, although I would consider this extremely unlikely.)
Five, don't assume that only backbone admins or site admins or other
moderators, etc. are the only ones who have a voice. If they were, I
wouldn't be posting this. I'm looking for a moderator who can manage
this newsgroup, comp.binaries.ibm.pc, in the way that I cannot: I want
the input of the most inportant people in the newsgroup, the ones who read
it and use its articles.
Six, I will monitor news.groups for articles related to comp.binaries.ibm.pc;
I will post my decision on October 30, or later if it becomes obvious that
more time is needed (it probably will, knowing net propagation). After the
decision is made, I will coordinate the change of moderators with the new
moderator; it is up to him/her when the newsgroup will be fully functional
again.
Seven, I will post occasional announcements as necessary to keep the net
informed about changes such as comments from the backbone or other moderators
or an extension of the deadline.
Eight, the qualifications of a moderator include:
* Knowledge of the IBM PC and/or its numerous clones,
and of MS-DOS. Knowledge of other operating systems
for PC clones might be helpful, although I have yet
to see a posting of a program for CP/M-86.
* Must have access to a machine with sufficient
resources to maintain the group. This includes
a robust mailer (and reliable mail paths from the
backbone sites) and enough disk space to maintain
both articles waiting to be posted and (hopefully)
archives.
* Must have access to an MS-DOS machine on which to test
submitted programs; knowledge of how to spot "trojan"
programs is probably a plus.
* Must have the time to do the job. This is where I
fell short, folks.
* Should _not_ have an anti-Intel bias!!!
* Sites neighboring the moderator's site must be
willing to carry the newsgroup. Otherwise, there's
no point in applying.
Please keep these guidelines in mind, and start posting.
--
Brandon S. Allbery, moderator of comp.sources.misc
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