Usenet Big-8 Management Board - User contributions [en]

Board Membership Policy

2012-07-26T04:17:47Z

Kathym: /* Term of Office */

== Preamble ==

1. This Policy lays down the procedures and protocols for appointing
and removing Members of the Big-8 Management Board (hereinafter
referred to as "the Board").

== The Handover Date ==

1. The dates on which terms of office begin and end shall hereinafter
be referred to as "the Handover Dates". The Handover Dates shall be
April 1st and October 1st in each year.

== Term of Office ==
1. The term of office for a Member of the Board shall ordinarily be
eighteen months. There shall be no limit on the number of terms that a
Member of the Board may serve.

2. The Board Shall Be Appointed by Thirds

3. The Secretary of the Board shall be responsible for maintaining a
list of Members of the Board and the expiration dates of their terms
of office, and for informing the Board at least one calendar month
before each Handover Date which Members' terms of office will expire
on the forthcoming Handover Date. In the absence of a Secretary, the
Chair shall be responsible.

{| {{Prettytable}}
!Term Expires 1 Oct 2012
|-
|Jeremy Nixon
|-
|David E. Ross
|-
|Paul Schleck
|-
!Term Expires 1 Apr 2013
|-
|Robert Bonomi
|-
|Rebecca Brown
|-
|Bill Horne
|-
|Thomas Lee
|-
!Term Expires 1 Oct 2013
|-
|Kathy Morgan, Chair
|-
|Bob Rudd
|-
|Howard S Shubs
|}

4. If, following appointment and/or removal of members, the number of
members due to retire on any one Handover Date is greater than
one-third, rounded up, of the full membership of the Board, the Chair
shall arrange, by consent if possible, or by a random process, to
adjust sufficient Members' term of office expiration date such that
approximately one-third of the membership of the Board retires on each
upcoming Handover Date.

== Resignation of Existing Members ==

1. A Member may resign from the Board at any time by notifying all
other Members.

2. Upon resignation, the outgoing Member may nominate a replacement to
become a Member.

a. Such nominee shall replace the outgoing Member unless rejected by a
two-thirds majority of active Members.

b. If the replacement is approved, he shall be appointed to the Board
with the same term of office expiration date as the Member he
replaces.

== Reappointment of Existing Members ==

1. At the expiration of a Member of the Board's term of office, if he
wishes, he may be re-appointed to a new term at the discretion of the
Board. The Board shall vote on the re-appointment by secret ballot;
the vote-taker (the Chair) shall publish the results of the vote to the
Board, but not the individual ballots.

2. If the Chair is himself up for re-appointment, the vote shall be
taken by the Vice-Chair.

3. The member whose reappointment is at issue may cast a ballot in this
vote as usual.

4. The vote tallies shall not be published to the public, though the
re-appointment itself shall be announced.

== Appointment of New Members ==

1. The Board shall at all times consist of at least three Members.

a. If the number of Members falls to two, then the two Members shall
appoint a third Member.

b. If the number of Members falls to one, that Member shall appoint a
second Member; the two Members will then appoint a third Member.

2. There shall be no upper limit to the number of Members that may
comprise the Board.

3. Except in cases covered by IV(2) or VI(1), appointment of new
Members shall be by two-thirds majority of active Members.

4. [[Adding Members to the Board|How new members are added to the board.]]

Approved by the the Board, 2006-05-03.

[[Category:Big-8 Management|Membership]]

Board Membership Policy

2012-07-14T14:34:32Z

Kathym: /* Term of Office */

== Preamble ==

1. This Policy lays down the procedures and protocols for appointing
and removing Members of the Big-8 Management Board (hereinafter
referred to as "the Board").

== The Handover Date ==

1. The dates on which terms of office begin and end shall hereinafter
be referred to as "the Handover Dates". The Handover Dates shall be
April 1st and October 1st in each year.

== Term of Office ==
1. The term of office for a Member of the Board shall ordinarily be
eighteen months. There shall be no limit on the number of terms that a
Member of the Board may serve.

2. The Board Shall Be Appointed by Thirds

3. The Secretary of the Board shall be responsible for maintaining a
list of Members of the Board and the expiration dates of their terms
of office, and for informing the Board at least one calendar month
before each Handover Date which Members' terms of office will expire
on the forthcoming Handover Date. In the absence of a Secretary, the
Chair shall be responsible.

{| {{Prettytable}}
!Term Expires 1 Oct 2012
|-
|Jeremy Nixon
|-
|David E. Ross
|-
|Paul Schleck
|-
!Term Expires 1 Apr 2013
|-
|Robert Bonomi
|-
|Rebecca Brown
|-
|Bill Horne
|-
|Thomas Lee
|-
!Term Expires 1 Oct 2013
|-
|Alexander Bartolich, Chair - Deceased
|-
|Kathy Morgan, Vice-Chair
|-
|Bob Rudd
|-
|Howard S Shubs
|}

4. If, following appointment and/or removal of members, the number of
members due to retire on any one Handover Date is greater than
one-third, rounded up, of the full membership of the Board, the Chair
shall arrange, by consent if possible, or by a random process, to
adjust sufficient Members' term of office expiration date such that
approximately one-third of the membership of the Board retires on each
upcoming Handover Date.

== Resignation of Existing Members ==

1. A Member may resign from the Board at any time by notifying all
other Members.

2. Upon resignation, the outgoing Member may nominate a replacement to
become a Member.

a. Such nominee shall replace the outgoing Member unless rejected by a
two-thirds majority of active Members.

b. If the replacement is approved, he shall be appointed to the Board
with the same term of office expiration date as the Member he
replaces.

== Reappointment of Existing Members ==

1. At the expiration of a Member of the Board's term of office, if he
wishes, he may be re-appointed to a new term at the discretion of the
Board. The Board shall vote on the re-appointment by secret ballot;
the vote-taker (the Chair) shall publish the results of the vote to the
Board, but not the individual ballots.

2. If the Chair is himself up for re-appointment, the vote shall be
taken by the Vice-Chair.

3. The member whose reappointment is at issue may cast a ballot in this
vote as usual.

4. The vote tallies shall not be published to the public, though the
re-appointment itself shall be announced.

== Appointment of New Members ==

1. The Board shall at all times consist of at least three Members.

a. If the number of Members falls to two, then the two Members shall
appoint a third Member.

b. If the number of Members falls to one, that Member shall appoint a
second Member; the two Members will then appoint a third Member.

2. There shall be no upper limit to the number of Members that may
comprise the Board.

3. Except in cases covered by IV(2) or VI(1), appointment of new
Members shall be by two-thirds majority of active Members.

4. [[Adding Members to the Board|How new members are added to the board.]]

Approved by the the Board, 2006-05-03.

[[Category:Big-8 Management|Membership]]

Content and Format of a Request for Discussion (RFD)

2011-12-29T05:38:13Z

Kathym: /* 3. Distribution List */

=== Newsgroup Creation RFDS -- General Concepts ===
==== 1. Newsgroup Name ====
* The name must begin with one of the branches of the big-8: comp, rec, humanities, sci, talk, soc, misc, news.
* During the discussion period, the proposed name will be evaluated for how well the new group fits into the list of other newsgroups.
* For a rather lengthy discussion of the rules for forming newsgroup names, with links to other naming documents, see [http://moleski.net/newsgroups/b8_names.htm this page.] (Don't panic. We want your newsgroup to succeed, and we will help you to understand and apply all of the rules as you develop your proposal.) You may check your proposed name and newsgroup description line using [http://pjr.gotdns.org/usenet/validator|this validator].
* See [[Checkgroups]] for a list of all Big-8 newsgroups. Something on that list may help you develop a good name for the topic you wish to discuss. Think about where your proposed newsgroup will fall in that list; it is sorted alphabetically, so it is easy to see where your newsgroup will be located in the hierarchy.

==== 2. Newsgroups Line ====
* This is a short, one-line description of the newsgroup. This line will be included in [[Checkgroups]], a special text file that lists all of the groups in the Big-8.
* The newsgroups line should not simply repeat elements from the name of the group; the description should use synonyms or terms that add more meaning than that already given in the name.
* There is no need to use phrases like "Discussion of all aspects of..." That newsgroups are for discussion may be taken for granted.
* The group name as a whole plus the required tab stop(s) plus the short description of the group must not exceed 79 columns.
* In order to correctly calculate the number of columns occupied by the name, tab stop(s) and description, one must assume that tab stops fall every eight spaces in the line.
<pre>
In this diagram, ^ represents the Tab stops and middots are used
to represent spaces. When the Tab key is pressed, spaces are
generated to move the cursor to the next Tab stop.

The vertical bar | represents the first Tab stop at which newsgroup
descriptions may begin. "comp.ai" actually needs three Tabs to move
the beginning of its description to the 25th column. The first Tab
generates a single space; the next two Tabs generate eight spaces each.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
^·······^·······^·······|·······^·······^·······^·······^·······^·······^·······
comp.ai·^·······^·······Artificial Intelligence. (Moderated)
comp.ai.jair.announce···Announcements & abstracts of the Journal of AI Research.
rec.arts.comics.info····Reviews, convention information and other comics news.
rec.arts.startrek.reviews·······Reviews of Star Trek books, episodes, films, &c.
rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe·Marvel Comics' shared universe and characters.
rec.collecting.villages·Collectible houses, cottages, villages, and accessories.
rec.outdoors.fishing.fly.tying··Issues relating to tying flies for flyfishing.
sci.op-research·········Research, teaching & application of operations research.
</pre>

* The longer the name of the group, the fewer columns available for the group description.
* At the end of the line for all moderated groups, whether the word "moderated" is in their name or not, a space and (Moderated) follow the period at the end of the group description. The space taken up by " (Moderated)" is not part of the 79-column limit.
* The period at the end of the description is not required, though it is customary to use a period if space allows.
* Please don't panic. [[Group Mentors]] will help you to develop an RFD that meets these standards. You also may check your proposed name and newsgroup description line using [http://pjr.lasnobberia.net/usenet/validator|this validator].
* These standards are conventional and arbitrary. Some day, perhaps, the conventions will change. Meanwhile, we encourage proponents to work within these historical limits for the time being.

==== 3. Distribution List ====
* The proponent should develop a list of newsgroups to whom the RFD will be circulated. We want all newsgroups that may be interested in or affected by the proposed newsgroup to be alerted to the discussions taking place in news.groups.proposals.
* Such groups may be in the same branch of the Big-8 hierarchy or elsewhere in Usenet.
* The distribution list always begins with news.announce.newgroups and [[news.groups.proposals]]. (It is important that news.announce.newgroups be listed first in the Newsgroups: header when the RFD is actually submitted; the submission is sent to the first moderated group in the list.). The RFD must be crossposted to all of the groups listed in the distribution list.
* Do not put more than five newsgroups in the distribution list; many news servers discard messages crossposted to more than five newsgroups. If more than five newsgroups need to be contacted, a pointer to the RFD thread should be placed in those groups.
** Put the newsgroups in the Newsgroups: header.
<pre>
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups.proposals, rec.outdoors.fishing.bass, rec.outdoors.fishing, uk.rec.fishing
</pre>
** List the same newsgroups in the Distribution List.
<pre>
Distribution List:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.outdoors.fishing.bass
rec.outdoors.fishing
uk.rec.fishing
</pre>

==== 4. Proponent Information ====
* Proponents must supply a name and a decipherable e-mail address.
* More than one proponent may be listed in the RFD. So long as the RFD supplies the lead proponent's e-mail address, the other proponents may provide an address or not at their discretion.
* The lead proponent and any other proponents should be prepared for questions in [[news.groups.proposals]] about their participation in Usenet, especially if they are proposing a moderated newsgroup.

==== 5. Charter ====
* The [[charters|charter]] defines the scope of the newsgroup.
* The charter should indicate what is considered acceptable or unacceptable in the group.
* The charter of an unmoderated group should, as a general rule, be on the order of one or two paragraphs long--one paragraph on the nature of the group and perhaps another on all the no-binaries, no-advertising formalities and the like.
* The original newsgroup charter will go on file in the [ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/ ISC news.announce.newgroup archive] and in the [ftp://ftp.isc.org/usenet/control ISC Usenet control message archive]. There is no method at present for changing the charters on file in the archives. We therefore encourage proponents to think carefully about this definition of the group's purposes and scope.

<pre>
Charter:

misc.handicap.vision-impaired is an unmoderated group for the
discussion of problems of daily living for people who are visually-
impaired. Topics include learning how to get around in the dark,
using your other senses to compensate for the vision loss, learning
to utilize resources available to you in your community, learning to
cook and do household tasks, etc.

Medical topics should be posted to sci.med.vision.

Posters are expected to abide by normal Usenet standards of decorum,
and to ignore articles intended to disrupt the group. The usual
suspects are prohibited (spam, binaries, direct advertising, etc.)
</pre>

==== 6. Rationale ====
* The rationale explains why the new group is desirable and how it fits into the preceding patterns of Big-8 newsgroups.
* In some cases, the rationale and traffic analysis may overlap; a topic may have such heavy traffic in a pre-existing group that it may make sense to create a newsgroup just for that topic. The rationale might use this assertion as part of the explanation for making the proposal; the traffic analysis section might then provide data or links to data that would support the assertion in the rationale.

<pre>
RATIONALE: misc.handicap.vision-impaired

I went looking for a Big-8 group where I could discuss the problems
of being visually-impaired and found two related groups:
sci.med.vision and misc.handicap.

Sci.med.vision is strictly for discussion of medical problems, has
moderate traffic and more than 400 subscribers. Misc.handicap
covers disabilities of all sorts, including vision loss, has
moderate traffic and more than 100 subscribers. I have subscribed to
misc.handicap to get an idea of how often people discuss vision
problems

Visually-impaired people aren't likely to use 'handicap' as a search
term for a group about visual impairment. I only knew about it from
searching the archive on the word 'vision'. Therefore, it seems to
me that, if there is sufficient interest, there ought to be a
separate group for the visually-impaired.

If created, this group would be a split of misc.handicap, and would,
IMO, require the consent of users of misc.handicap. Users of
sci.med.vision may also be interested in having a separate group to
discuss problems of living with vision loss. Both groups should,
IMO, be included in any votes taken.
</pre>

==== 7. Moderation Policy ====
* Those who are thinking of proposing a moderated group should read [http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/mod-pitfalls.html|Pitfalls of Newsgroup Moderation].
* If the group is to be moderated, there should be some indication of what the moderation policy will be.
* We recommend that the moderation policy include some indication of how moderators will be added or changed in the future.
* The moderation policy is, of course, closely linked to the Charter of the group itself.
* [[Moderated Newsgroups|How moderation works]].

==== 8. Initial Moderator(s) ====

* The person or persons planning to open the group should be listed in the RFD.
* The lead moderator must have a human-decipherable e-mail address.
* All of the proposed initial moderators should participate in the [news.groups.proposals] discussions and anticipate questions about their background, qualifications, and philosophy of moderation. The decision to create a moderated group depends, in part, on the conviction that the proposed moderators will adhere to the charter and moderation policy proposed in the RFD. The judgment of whether a moderator or group of moderators can be trusted depends, in turn, on their Usenet history and their conduct in the discussion of the RFD.

==== 9. Technical Details about Moderation ====

* A moderated group must have a submission address and some method of approving or rejecting posts submitted to the group. Many software packages exist to help automate this process. Moderators must convince the Board that they understand the technical issues and are ready to deal with them.

* Moderators must supply a submission address for the group to be created. This address will be filed with the ISC and used to route incoming posts to the moderator(s) via SMTP (e-mail).

* The submission address need not be specified in early versions of the RFD; the proponent must show that a workable plan exists in order for the Board to vote on the proposal.

* See the [[Moderated Newsgroups|Moderation FAQ]] for more information on how moderation works.

==== 10. Traffic Analysis ====

One of the goals of the Big-8 Management Board is to create groups that are well-used. Proponents may look at other newsgroups, web sites, mailing lists, or forums to present evidence that many people are interested in the topic. "Traffic Analysis" is a catch-all title for evidence that supports the conclusion that the topic is popular and that there is therefore some likelihood that the group will be well-used.

'''It is in the best interests of the proposed group''' to get as many people as possible interested in the proposal during the discussion of the RFD. The requirement that ''prospective supporters show themselves to be familiar with Usenet'' means that the new group may have a good nucleus of posters if and when it is created. A newsgroup with no news is no fun. The more people whom proponents persuade to show support for the proposal by making Usenet posts during the discussion, ''the better it is for the newsgroup itself'' if and when it is created. A proponent may not simply assume that the creation of a newsgroup will attract traffic from existing alternatives to Usenet.

===== Interest polls =====

A proponent may wish to conduct an interest poll, the goal of which would be to show that there are a significant number of people who would like to use the new group and/or that there is not significant opposition to it. While the proponent can collect and collate the results of the poll, it is preferable for the poll to be run by an impartial third party.

Proponents who are interested in conducting a poll may wish to contact the [[Usenet Volunteer Polltakers]] (UVP) for assistance determining the structure of the poll and/or finding someone to run it. However, the proponent may seek the assistance of ''any'' third-party vote-taking organization willing to run the proponent's poll; there is no requirement for the proponent to utilize the services of the UVP. Of course, the importance placed on the results of the poll by the Board will depend, in part, on the reputation and trustworthiness of the organization which ran it.

Polls may be conducted either during the informal or formal discussion phase of the proposal process. The results of a poll may be summarized in a revised RFD or posted in a separate thread to news.groups.proposals. If the proponent is conducting a poll and wishes to ensure that the Board will take the results of the poll into account before rendering a decision, the proponent should provide to the Board by email the date when the poll results will be submitted. The Board will defer its decision on the proposal until after that date.

The results of a poll will be taken into account by the Board when reaching a decision on a proposal. However, the Board will not necessarily side with the majority of respondents to the poll, as other factors may be considered to have greater weight.

===== Feedback in news.groups.proposals =====

The Board urges those who would like to read or post in the proposed newsgroup to make a comment to that effect in the RFD thread in [[news.groups.proposals]]; we ask proponents to keep a list of such positive posts with the relevant message ID:
<pre>

Feedback in Usenet posts:

A. Will read and post to the group if created:

Jonathan Kamens [e42v15$gru$3@jik2.kamens.brookline.ma.us]
James Farrar [58pc62t7cfjrdbt3epgdmkp2dk09f4k29d@4ax.com]
...

B. Will read the group if created:

Tim Skirvin [tskirvin.20060515233940$7432@cairo.ks.uiuc.edu]
...

C. Favor the creation of the group but will not use it:

Martin X. Moleski, SJ [38di629d6pbv8opeiv514fvin9lao9ln8f@4ax.com]
...

</pre>

Such lists of positive feedback taken from Usenet may constitute good
evidence that the group will be well-used if it is created.

Proponents may wish to post the list to its own thread
and include a Message ID in the RFD to show where the list
can be found. See this post as an example of such
a synopsis: [http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/87d702f54a8d7290?dmode=source|2nd RFD: news.groups.proposals moderated Straw Poll} <453ea64a$0$9442$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com>].

For further ideas about how information can be collated, see this [[Polling_Techniques#Feedback_from_Usenet|discussion of feedback from usenet]].

==== 11. Boilerplate Describing the Big-8 Creation Process ====

* The RFD is meant to be circulated to many newsgroups in which participants may be unfamiliar with the newsgroup creation process. It is important for proponents to help such users understand and participate in the discussion.

* At the end of the RFD, prior to any version information, please include the following text:
<pre>
For more information on the newsgroup creation process, please see:

http:''www.big-8.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=policies:creation

Those who wish to influence the development of this RFD and its
final resolution should subscribe to news.groups.proposals and
participate in the relevant threads in that newsgroup. This is both
a courtesy to groups in which discussion of creating a new group is
off-topic as well as the best method of making sure that one's
comments or criticisms are heard.

All discussion of active proposals should be posted to
news.groups.proposals

To this end, the followup header of this RFD has been set to
news.groups.proposals

If desired by the readership of closely affected groups, the
discussion may be crossposted to those groups, but care must be
taken to ensure that all discussion appears in news.groups.proposals
as well.
</pre>

==== 12. History: Version Information ====

* If more than one RFD is required, the proponent should append a short changelog at the end of the RFD.

* We recommend blog order for the information--most recent changes at the top of the list.

* We recommend using yyyy-mm-dd for dates.

* Proponents may wish to use the history section to summarize discussion of the RFD and show how the changes are responsive to the discussion in news.groups.proposals. This is a matter of taste and discretion. It is up to the proponents to decide how much information to include in the History section.

<pre>
Version information:

2006-03-15 Reformatted by Tim Skirvin for posting as an RFD.
2006-03-14 Submitted by Himanshu Singh Chauhan.
</pre>
==== 13. Archive-Name header ====
* For creation of a single newsgroup, set the Archive-Name [[Usenet headers|header]] to the name of the newsgroup being proposed. If the RFD is proposing several newsgroups, [[Content_and_Format_of_a_Group_Removal_RFD#8._Archive-Name|see these notes on how to construct a good Archive-Name]].

* Archive-Name is a custom [[headers|Usenet header]] field. Some newsreaders do not allow you to add custom headers; if that is the case, omit the Archive-Name and the news.announce.newgroups moderators will add it manually. If your newsreader does permit you to add custom headers, the name of the header field is "Archive-Name: " in exactly that format and with the space but without the quotation marks, followed by the archive name. An example would be:
<pre>
Archive-Name: news.announce.newgroups
</pre>

=== A Newsgroup Creation RFD Template ===
==== Part 1: Header fields for the post ====
* Each newsreader has its own methods for filling in the standard [[Usenet headers|header fields]] or for adding a custom field.
* As noted above, "Archive-Name: " is a custom header field. If you are unable to add this to the headers, it is OK.
<pre>
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups.proposals {insert other interested/affected newsgroups}
Subject: RFD: {insert proposed newsgroup name}
From: {insert lead proponent's Usenet identity and decipherable address}
Followup-To: news.groups.proposals
Archive-Name: {insert proposed newsgroup name}
</pre>

==== Part 2: The body of the post ====
* Cut and paste the following into a [[Text editors|text editor]].
* Fill in the {blanks} marked by the {} braces.
* ''This is not a test!'' If you need any help filling out the form, you may contact the [[Group Mentors]].
* You may submit a partially-completed RFD, indicating that some areas are under discussion or are being researched.
* RFDs for unmoderated groups do not include any information about moderation policy, moderators, or moderation techniques.
* Please rewrap your text as needed for easy comprehension in newsgroup format

<pre>
REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
{un}moderated group {proposed newsgroup name}

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) for the creation of the
{un}moderated newsgroup {newsgroup name}.

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
{name, tab(s), description. Add " Moderated" after the period
if the group is to be moderated.}

RATIONALE:

{multiple lines; may include traffic analysis and other fields}

CHARTER:

{multiple lines}

{MODERATION POLICY:} {followed by multiple lines, only if necessary}

{MODERATOR INFO:} {only if necessary, includes moderator names/addresses
and contact/submission addresses}

PROCEDURE:

For more information on the newsgroup creation process, please see:

http:''www.big-8.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=policies:creation

Those who wish to influence the development of this RFD and its
final resolution should subscribe to news.groups.proposals and
participate in the relevant threads in that newsgroup. This is both
a courtesy to groups in which discussion of creating a new group is
off-topic as well as the best method of making sure that one's
comments or criticisms are heard.

All discussion of active proposals should be posted to
news.groups.proposals

To this end, the followup header of this RFD has been set to
news.groups.proposals.

If desired by the readership of closely affected groups, the
discussion may be crossposted to those groups, but care must be
taken to ensure that all discussion appears in news.groups.proposals
as well.

We urge those who would like to read or post in the proposed
newsgroup to make a comment to that effect in this thread; we ask
proponents to keep a list of such positive posts with the relevant
message ID:

Barney Fife, <4jgdnb60fsmzha7znz2dnuvz_rwdnz2d@sysmatrix.net>)

Such lists of positive feedback for the proposal may constitute good
evidence that the group will be well-used if it is created.

DISTRIBUTION:

This document has been posted to the following newsgroups:

news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
{insert list of other interested/affected newsgroups}

{The proponent will also post pointers to: }

{list of other newsgroups, mailing lists, web fora, etc}

PROPONENT:

{name plus decipherable e-mail address}
{list of other proponents, if any}

CHANGE HISTORY:
{2006-11-29 1st RFD. Put in the correct YYYY-MM-DD for your submission.}
{2006-12-06 2nd RFD. Give some hints about the changes made in the RFD.}
{2006-12-09 Final RFD/LCC. And of course you won't use braces around the real
change history. The braces are here to remind you that the
material inside the braces is not part of the boilerplate.}

</pre>

----

=== Other Considerations ===

==== RFDs for Multiple Proposals ====

* The form given above must be modified when a number of proposals are submitted as a group.

* Each element of the form must be marked with the name of the group to which it applies. So, for example, whereas an RFD for a single group only uses the word "Charter:" for that part of the form, each proposed charter in the multiple rfd must be marked "Charter: {insert appropriate group name}". Where elements of the form are meant to be taken as applying to all the proposals they should be so marked as "Common to all proposed groups."

==== Submitting the RFD Form ====

* The proposal (and any subsequent proposals) should be posted to [[news.announce.newgroups]]. If the post is approved, the n.a.n. mods will add the crossposts as detailed in the RFD itself.

* The followup-to [[Usenet headers|header]] should be set to [[news.groups.proposals]].

==== Submitting Subsequent Versions ====
* Please do not use [http://groups.google.com/?&|Google Groups] to obtain a previous version of your RFD; the Google format suppresses e-mail addresses and may truncate other references or [[Usenet headers|headers]].

* If you do not have a good copy of the RFD, please use the version of your RFD that appears in the [[Announcements]]. Thanks.

==== Submitting the Final RFD ====
* The proponent initiates the last phase of the process by submitting the [[LCC|final RFD]] to news.announce.newgroups (as discussed above).

* All of the material in the RFD is the same as in earlier versions with the exceptions noted on [[LCC|this page]].

=== Other Types of RFDs ===

* RFDs may be circulated to propose changes in Big-8 management policies, change of moderation status of newsgroups, [[rmgroup RFD|group removals]], etc. There is no special format at this time for these other kinds of RFDs. Proponents may borrow elements of the template for newsgroup creation as needed to clarify their proposal. The board will, in all likelihood, approach such RFDs using the same kind of process outlined for [[creation|newsgroup proposals]]: development of the formal RFD, publication in n.a.n., discussion in news.groups.proposals, [[LCC|last call for comments]], decision, and implementation (as needed).

[[Category:Group Creation|RFD]]
[[Category:Group Removal|RFD]]

Moderation relays

2011-12-22T01:12:05Z

Kathym: /* Things that break the system */

== The way the system is designed to work ==
=== 1. A user posts to a moderated newsgroup. ===
=== 2. Is the newsgroup configured as moderated by the user's news service provider? ===
==== YES. The news server has two options: ====
* '''Using the ISC relay''': the news server
** replaces dots with dashes in the group's name.
** appends "@moderators.isc.org" to the revised name
** stuffs the post in an envelope with an envelope sender address
** e-mails the post to <reformated-newsgroup-name@moderators.isc.org>
*** For example: for news.groups.proposals, the server would mail to<br /> <news-groups-proposals@moderators.isc.org>.
* '''If the news server keeps its own list of aliases''' (possibly for regional hierarchies), it may bypass the ISC relays and e-mail the post directly to the submission address for the moderated newsgroup.
==== NO. ====
* The post is injected into the news server's spool. It may circulate to other servers on which the group is flagged as unmoderated if there is a pathway to those other servers. The author of the post sees it on the misconfigured news server immediately, but the moderators of the group and most users on other servers never see the post.
=== 3. Is the envelope sender address resolvable? ===
==== YES. ====
* One of two moderation relays is chosen at random (moderators.individual.net or moderators.schnuerpel.eu).
* The relay looks up the submission address for the newsgroup on its alias list.
* The relay e-mails the post to the group's submission address.

==== NO. ====
* The e-mail will probably be discarded by the e-mail system. See the next section for an explanation of how envelope sender addresses work.
* The moderators of the group will probably never see the post.
=== 4. Do the moderators approve the post? ===
==== YES. ====
* The moderators mark the post as approved.
* The moderators inject the post into a news server.
==== NO. ====
* The post is discarded.
== How envelope sender addresses work ==
* '''''Mail servers generally reject mail with invalid (unresolvable) envelope sender addresses'''''. This isn't specific to the moderation relays; it's a standard anti-spam practice for many mail servers. Mail administrators started rejecting mail with non-resolving envelope From: addresses because it blocked spam and almost no legitimate mail. For example, sendmail 8.9, released in 2000, blocks mail with unresolvable envelope-from addresses *by default*.
** The ''envelope'' of an e-mail has two essential pieces of information written on it, just like a physical envelope for a letter: a ''From:'' address and a ''To:'' address.
** The ''news server program'' would generally send the mail with an envelope sender address of <news@domain> because "news" is the standard user account under which the server software is run. When a news server program generates an email, the envelope's From: address is automatically set to the program's user and domain. If the news server program is running under the user "news", which is typical, <news@domain> would be used for the From: address on the envelope. If the news server program is being run under another username, the From: address on the envelope would just be that username at the server's host--e.g., if the news server program is running under the clark_kent account on dailyplanet.com, the From: address on the envelope would be <clark_kent@dailyplanet.com>.
== Things that break the system ==
* If the server is running on a host with an invalid name, and the program has not been configured to set the mail envelope to something else, the e-mail sent by the server will probably be discarded; this isn't common, because that's just a sysadmin no-no.
** Note: the envelope's From: address doesn't have to be valid in the sense that you can send mail to it; it really just has to have a valid hostname and be in the right format. Having a server running with a totally invalid hostname is just broken, but it has happened.
** The word "valid" in this context is being used to indicate that the moderation relays can find the domain in the public Domain Name Service (DNS). The problem with the news server that was generating unresolvable addresses was that the host name used on the envelope addresses was valid on the news service's internal network, but the name was not identifiable from the public Internet through DNS.
* If the server has been configured to use the poster's From: address as the envelope's From: address, and if the poster is using an address with an unrecognizable domain, then the From: address on the envelope is invalid. This is also something that is the result of a misconfiguration because it is not the proper method to set the envelope address on a mail server. In fact, almost all mail server software would require you to take extra steps to make it so you could do that without a warning being generated. The entire point of the envelope sender is so that users can set their From: address to whatever they want and still have a correct return-path generated from the envelope address.
* If the server gets blacklisted as a spam server, the posts it relays may be discarded.
* As of 2011-12-21, there are three relays supporting the moderation system: Individual.net, schnuerpel.eu and mit.edu.

== The Bottom Line ==

If a news server is misconfigured in one of the two ways described above, the e-mail from the news server to the central moderation relays gets discarded and ''never reaches the moderator's submission address.'' It's not something that moderators can do anything about because the mail never reaches their server.

In practice, almost no one has their servers set up in either of the above ways. Andrew, one of the administrators at the Supernews relay, notes that 99.9% of submissions aren't broken like this -- almost all news servers have the envelope sender addresses set correctly because all of the server software programs configure envelope From: addresses correctly by default. It's easy to get right and hard to get wrong.

== Simplified Flow Chart of the Moderation Relay System ==

[[File:Mod relay.jpg]]

''Flow chart created with demo version of [http://www.rff.com/ RFFlow]''.

== Changing moderation relay addresses ==
Moderators should send requests to change a newsgroup's submission address to [mailto:moderators-request@isc.org moderators-request@isc.org].

== Links ==

{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
|[http://www.dnswiz.com/dnsworks.htm How DNS Works]
|-
|[http://www.feep.net/sendmail/tutorial/intro/SMTP.html SMTP and the Message Envelope]
|-
|[http://www.process.com/tcpip/pmdf621docs/programming/book_12.html PMDF Programmer's Reference: 1.2 Enqueuing Messages]
|-
|[http://www.cpcc.edu/itservices/virus/To_From%20Headers.asp To: and From: Email Headers can be Spoofed/Forged]
|-
|[http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ms526966.aspx Using the SMTP Message Envolope Fields]
|}

[[Category:Moderation]]

Big-8 Management FAQ

2011-10-07T06:46:13Z

Kathym: Still trying to fix link to ISC archives

== Identity and Structure of the Board ==

=== Who are you folks and what have you done with my newsgroups? ===

* We are the [[b8mb|Big-8 Management Board (B8MB)]]--click on the [[b8mb|highlighted text]] to see the list of members on the Board. We've been given the task of rethinking how to manage the [[Checkgroups|official list for Big-8 newsgroups]].

=== Where did the Board come from? ===

* The former moderators of news.announce.newgroups (n.a.n.) formed the Board to make suggestions about how to revise the management of the [[big8|Big-8 newsgroup hierarchies.]] After a year on probation, the [[n.a.n.]] moderators confirmed the work that the Board had done and made the changes in the system permanent.

{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
!Date
!Event
|-
|2005-08-15
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/dcce81994da320dc?hl=en%03a6628420fdbc25c&dmode=source CFV for comp.databases.mysql]
|-
|2005-09-16
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/09ccd38e27bfd23f?hl=en%03a6628420fdbc25c&dmode=source comp.databases.mysql created by fiat]
|-
|2005-09-19
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/d00bc82420769448?dmode=source&hl=en RFD Process on Hold / Call for Ideas]
|-
|2005-10-19
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/f945d09ae0f2b62a?dmode=source&hl=en Initial plan for Advisory Board]
|-
|2005-10-31
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/e805af5ccc1d7ac8?dmode=source&hl=en Call for Volunteers: Advisory Board]
|-
|2005-11-11
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/78f59a941c51fbed?dmode=source&hl=en Preliminary Volunteer List: Next Step]
|-
|2005-11-15
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/e7be688fbf193f79?dmode=source&hl=en Second Call for Votes]
|-
|2005-11-21
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/81d5f8e28ddf9a52?dmode=source&hl=en Welcome to New Board Members]
|-
|2006-03-03
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/549b3ae2aaa19686?dmode=source&hl=en New Big-8 Board Chair, and Current Status]
|-
|2006-03-13
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/b0605164c1546aba?dmode=source&hl=en We are the Big-8 Management Board]
|-
|2006-03-16
|[http://www.big-8.org www.big-8.org opened]
|-
|2006-04-18
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/57f67ae4fce01cdb?dmode=source&hl=en Draft Creation System Outline]
|-
|2006-05-03
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/b2fa33037323ac9b?dmode=source&hl=en Board Membership Policies / Test Run]
|-
|2006-09-30
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/b9a5ee8f65691199?dmode=source&hl=en Big Eight Hierarchy Management Transition (Allbery)]
|-
|2006-09-30
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/fc504072f9b8b989?hl=en&dmode=source A Personal Goodbye (Allbery)]
|-
|2006-09-30
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/de9d6df080896139?hl=en McComb's evaluation of the board]
|-
| (various)
|[[Archived Announcements]] from the Board
|}

=== Why do you call yourselves the "Management Board"? ===

* Because we are taking care of eight [http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/usenet-hier.html|"managed hierarchies."] The idea of management distinguishes these eight subsets of Usenet from unmanaged hierarchies such as alt.* If all goes well, all changes in the [[Checkgroups|canonical list of Big-8 groups]] will come as a result of control messages sent by the Management Board. The design philosophy of unmanaged hierarchies is that there is no central authority that can issue control messages.

== The Mission of the Board ==

=== What kind of groups belong in the Big-8? ===

* Newsgroups whose names begin with one of these components: comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc, talk.
* The collective namespace defined by these eight lists of newsgroups is what we mean by [[Big-8|"the Big-8"]].

=== No, what I meant was "what kind of groups are you willing to create in the Big-8"? ===

* Groups that, in the judgment of the Board, are well-named and seem likely to be well-used.
* There are some kinds of proposals that the Board is [[discouraged|reluctant to consider]].

=== What do you mean by "well-named"? ===
* The proposed name's spelling and syntax should fit in with the [[Names|traditional standards for Usenet and the Big-8]].
* The [[Content_and_Format_of_a_Request_for_Discussion_(RFD)#5._Charter|charter]] of the group should be consistent with the name of the group.

=== What do you mean by "well-used"? ===
* We mean that there are, as a general rule, a reasonable number of on-topic posts in the group.
* At the negative end of the scale, it is clear that a group that has no on-topic posts for a long time is not being well-used. Such groups may be [[Rmgroup|removed]] from the [[Checkgroups|canonical list of Big-8 newsgroups]] if, in the judgment of the Board, they are dead and do not have any likelihood of being revived.

=== Where do I go if I want an alt.* group? ===

* [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.config?hl=en|google alt.config]
* [news:alt.config news:alt.config ]
* For more information, see [[other_hierarchies|this discussion]] of other Usenet hierarchies, including alt.

=== Why isn't the newsgroup I want to read available through my news service? ===

* Every news administrator decides what groups to carry and what groups not to carry. You will have to contact your [NSP|news service provider (NSP)]] directly to find out why some groups are not carried. The Board would be happy to work with you and your NSP to see that the group is [[compliance|correctly configured]] on the news server so that posts made on the server circulate to all other servers that carry the big-8 and so that all posts made on all such servers appear on your news server.

== Newsgroup Charters ==
=== What is a newsgroup charter? ===
* It is a brief description of the purpose and scope of a newsgroup.
* Every Request for Discussion (RFD) for a new newsgroup must have some kind of charter. See point 5 on the [[RFD|description of the contents of an RFD]].

=== Will the board make the people in our newsgroup obey the charter of the group? ===

* No.

=== Why not? ===
* There are too many newsgroups--and too many disagreements about the meaning of charters!--for the board to become involved.
* There is no way to identify who "the people in our newsgroup" are.
* There is no mechanism in NNTP to enforce punishments on people who refuse to follow the charters.
* There is no mechanism to erase old charters and replace them with new charters.
* Except for moderated groups (a whole different kettle of fish), newsgroups have no "owners" who can impose and enforce charters or changes in charters.

=== So what good are the @#$%*& charters anyway? ===
* The charters in RFDs help people decide whether a group should be created.
* If the group is created, the charter provides some kind of touchstone for the original purpose and scope of the group.

=== May we change the charter of our newsgroup? ===

* Yes, in practice. A newsgroup is whatever the participants make of it.
* No, not in the [ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/ ISC archives]. The original charter is contained in the control message that creates the group. The ISC collects those control messages in their archive. There is no method at present to change the archives.
* Yes, by convention. The last (signed) control message in the archive might overrule all predecessors. This convention is used in ''de.*''.

== Board Policies ==

=== How does the Board make decisions? ===
* We discuss things among ourselves on a private mailing list.
* When necessary, we take a vote using these [[Board Voting Policies|general guidelines]].

=== How are new members added to the Board? ===
* We [[Adding members|ask for volunteers]], then vote on who will become a member.

=== What are the terms of office? ===
* [[Membership|Roughly 18 months (renewable).]]

=== Why doesn't the Board conduct its discussions in public? ===
* Publishing the transcript of the discussions would invite commentary, which would mean that everything any member said would have to be publicly explained and defended.
* Keeping the discussion private allows us to speak our minds freely, both about issues and about persons involved in the issues.

=== Can I join the Board mailing list? ===

Not unless you're a [[b8mb|member of the Board]].

=== How can I discuss things with the Board publicly or privately? ===

* Publicly:
** Post in news.groups.
** Post in news.groups.proposals about a particular proposal.
* Privately: Send email to [mailto:board@big-8.org board@big-8.org], which will go to the whole Board.

=== Why doesn't the Board reveal how its members voted? ===
* We do not see any use for that information other than to make the members of the Board targets of ridicule and harassment. We would be willing to tolerate the additional abuse if we felt that there was some benefit in posting individual votes, but we don't.
* Who voted which way is not important; what is important is ''why'' Board members voted the way they did. That is made clear during the discussion of a proposal in news.groups and/or news.groups.proposals. Members of the Board actively participate in those discussions and share their reasons for supporting or opposing proposals. All that would be accomplished by restating these reasons when announcing the Board's decision would be to spark useless repetition of discussion that has already taken place.
* Once a decision is reached by the Board, it is the decision of the entire Board, not its individual members, and the Board should unite in supporting its implementation. Posting the votes of individual Board members who opposed the final decision would serve to divide rather than unite and hence would obstruct the implementation of the decision.

=== Are there unwritten rules that the Board follows? ===

* Yes.

=== What are the unwritten rules? ===

* I can't tell you. They're, uh, unwritten.

=== Why don't you write them down? ===

* Because they are matters of common sense, netiquette, politesse, sound reasoning, and the like. They are things that "go without saying," so we don't say them.

=== Do all the members of the Board speak for the Board? ===

* It depends on the situation.
* Each member of the Board wears two or more [[The Apache Software Foundation's Concept of "Hats"|"hats"]]. Each member is encouraged to participate in news.groups as an individual, expressing his or her own views of the topics being discussed. Such personal opinions ought not to be attributed to the Board as a whole, unless the member is reporting or commenting on a policy or decision that has been formally enacted by the Board.
* Board members may also serve on committees of the Board ([[volunteer|Group Mentors, Dead Groups Task Force, UVP, etc.]]), thus picking up another hat to wear when posting in news.groups or elsewhere.

=== Why don't you require all Board members to vote? ===
* It's impossible to know who is and who is not available to vote once a vote begins. Stuff happens (e.g., tale's motorcycle accident) and sometimes people get busy with The Rest of Life (tm). If enough members of the Board participate in the vote so that a motion is decided, that is sufficient for our purposes. If we were meeting face-to-face instead of conducting votes through e-mail, we would, of course, expect all present to vote.

=== What do you mean by "enough members"? ===
* That is spelled out in the ninth point of the [[Board Voting Policies|internal voting policies]] that we have adopted: "A vote requires at least half of the active members voting or explicitly abstaining in order to be decisive."

== Miscellaneous Questions ==

=== What is all that ugly stuff in news.groups? ===

* Somebody doesn't like us. They forge a huge stream of very offensive posts to try do drown out the conversation. Some people call the spew of forged posts "sporgery."

=== Can't you stop them? ===

* No. [[usenet|Usenet]] is a loose confederation of news servers that spans the globe. There is no central administration. Access to each of the myriad of news servers is given by the administrator of each independent server. No one can tell a news adminstrator how to run his or her news server.

* If you wish to have a more highly structured and controlled environment, you might try to resurrect [http://www.usenet2.org/ Usenet II]. For now, the Big-8 newsgroups exist in the quasi-chaotic universe of Usenet I.

=== Why don't they like you? ===

* You'll have to ask the sporger that.

* A regular in news.groups wrote: "While it appears most of the dissenters in here are decent people with differing points of view ... , there are some who would cheerfully leave the place a smoldering crater if it isn't run their way."

=== Are board members required to read everything in news.groups? ===
* No. The members of the board are free to read as much or as little of the traffic in news.group according to their own taste and temperament.

=== Suppose someone wants to discuss big-8 policy in news.groups? ===
* They may. It is an unmoderated group that has a [[Big-8#History_of_news.groups|long history]] of policy discussions.

=== What if I want to make sure the board sees my proposal? ===
* Use a helpful subject line.
* [mailto:board@big-8.org E-mail the board] about the thread you have started.
* Crosspost to [[news.groups.proposals]].

=== What's a wiki? ===

* A set of pages that can be quickly created and easily modified by a group of people. [[wp>Wiki|"Wiki"]] is Hawaiian for "quick." See the bottom of each page for a link to [[wiki:dokuwiki|DokuWiki]].

=== Aren't wikis supposed to allow anyone and everyone to contribute? ===
* Yes, that was the original theory on the original wiki.

=== So this is not a ''real'' wiki? ===
* Correct.

=== Who is skirv? ===

* Tim Skirvin, was chair of the [[b8mb|Big-8 Management Board (B8MB)]] from 2006-2008. For more on spaf, tale, Russ, and skirv, see the [[Big-8|history of the Big-8]].

=== Why are you using a web site instead of newsgroups? ===

* Web sites are a tool that can be used to improve the understanding and functioning of newsgroups. They are easily searched and can be maintained as a repository of useful information.
* The web site is a backup for communicating through newsgroups.
* There is a high signal-to-noise ratio in a static environment.
* The site acts as a possible entry port for web surfers to become interested in news.groups.
* It is a standard tool used in hierarchy administration: "Have a web site. Try to make sure that the URL for your hierarchy web site is stable and doesn't change, since the URL makes it into various FAQs and configuration files that live for years. Put all of the hierarchy information on the web site, and make sure that the web site stays up to date" ([http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/usenet-hier.html|Usenet Hierarchy Administration FAQ]).
* The Web site / Wiki model is more effective than a newsgroup for publishing or consuming certain kinds of content, including the content of this site.

==== Yes, but shouldn't stuff about Usenet stay on Usenet? ====

The point of view that Usenet should not rely on any outside communication medium made more sense when the Usenet could reasonably be considered separate from the Internet. Although it is still possible to transmit and receive Usenet traffic without using the Internet, in reality the vast majority of Usenet readers and servers work over the Internet, and the number of Usenet users and administrators who do not have access to the Internet and the Web is vanishingly small. As such, it is appropriate to consider the Usenet part of the vast tapestry of Internet communication media, and it is therefore appropriate to take advantage of other pieces of that tapestry when doing so enhances and/or simplifies the Usenet administration process.

=== How Do You Pronounce "B8MB"? ===

* I say "8-Bomb." Others tackle it differently. "Bembi"? "Bambi"? "Bait 'em"? There is a small cottage industry devoted to multiplying nicknames for the group.

=== Why Do You Have So Many Committees? ===

* Not all of the Board members are equally talented or equally interested in the tasks required to manage the business of the Board.
* Many hands make light work (sometimes).
* We're hoping to make more room for people to [[volunteer|volunteer their time and talent]].

== Links ==
{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
Pages in This Site
|-
|[[b8mb|Current Board Members]]
|-
|[[Big-8|Short history of the Big-8]]
|-
|[[Links|Other Usenet Links]]
|-
|[[Glossary]]
|-
!Classic FAQs
|-
|[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ Internet FAQ Archives]
|-
|[http://www.swcp.com/~dmckeon/mod-faq.html Moderated Newsgroups FAQ]
|}
[[Category:FAQs]]
[[Category:Big-8 Management]]

Big-8 Management FAQ

2011-10-07T04:00:21Z

Kathym: Hopefully fixed link to ISC Archives

== Identity and Structure of the Board ==

=== Who are you folks and what have you done with my newsgroups? ===

* We are the [[b8mb|Big-8 Management Board (B8MB)]]--click on the [[b8mb|highlighted text]] to see the list of members on the Board. We've been given the task of rethinking how to manage the [[Checkgroups|official list for Big-8 newsgroups]].

=== Where did the Board come from? ===

* The former moderators of news.announce.newgroups (n.a.n.) formed the Board to make suggestions about how to revise the management of the [[big8|Big-8 newsgroup hierarchies.]] After a year on probation, the [[n.a.n.]] moderators confirmed the work that the Board had done and made the changes in the system permanent.

{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
!Date
!Event
|-
|2005-08-15
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/dcce81994da320dc?hl=en%03a6628420fdbc25c&dmode=source CFV for comp.databases.mysql]
|-
|2005-09-16
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/09ccd38e27bfd23f?hl=en%03a6628420fdbc25c&dmode=source comp.databases.mysql created by fiat]
|-
|2005-09-19
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/d00bc82420769448?dmode=source&hl=en RFD Process on Hold / Call for Ideas]
|-
|2005-10-19
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/f945d09ae0f2b62a?dmode=source&hl=en Initial plan for Advisory Board]
|-
|2005-10-31
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/e805af5ccc1d7ac8?dmode=source&hl=en Call for Volunteers: Advisory Board]
|-
|2005-11-11
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/78f59a941c51fbed?dmode=source&hl=en Preliminary Volunteer List: Next Step]
|-
|2005-11-15
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/e7be688fbf193f79?dmode=source&hl=en Second Call for Votes]
|-
|2005-11-21
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/81d5f8e28ddf9a52?dmode=source&hl=en Welcome to New Board Members]
|-
|2006-03-03
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/549b3ae2aaa19686?dmode=source&hl=en New Big-8 Board Chair, and Current Status]
|-
|2006-03-13
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/b0605164c1546aba?dmode=source&hl=en We are the Big-8 Management Board]
|-
|2006-03-16
|[http://www.big-8.org www.big-8.org opened]
|-
|2006-04-18
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/57f67ae4fce01cdb?dmode=source&hl=en Draft Creation System Outline]
|-
|2006-05-03
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/b2fa33037323ac9b?dmode=source&hl=en Board Membership Policies / Test Run]
|-
|2006-09-30
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/b9a5ee8f65691199?dmode=source&hl=en Big Eight Hierarchy Management Transition (Allbery)]
|-
|2006-09-30
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.announce.newgroups/msg/fc504072f9b8b989?hl=en&dmode=source A Personal Goodbye (Allbery)]
|-
|2006-09-30
|[http://groups.google.com/group/news.groups/msg/de9d6df080896139?hl=en McComb's evaluation of the board]
|-
| (various)
|[[Archived Announcements]] from the Board
|}

=== Why do you call yourselves the "Management Board"? ===

* Because we are taking care of eight [http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/usenet-hier.html|"managed hierarchies."] The idea of management distinguishes these eight subsets of Usenet from unmanaged hierarchies such as alt.* If all goes well, all changes in the [[Checkgroups|canonical list of Big-8 groups]] will come as a result of control messages sent by the Management Board. The design philosophy of unmanaged hierarchies is that there is no central authority that can issue control messages.

== The Mission of the Board ==

=== What kind of groups belong in the Big-8? ===

* Newsgroups whose names begin with one of these components: comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc, talk.
* The collective namespace defined by these eight lists of newsgroups is what we mean by [[Big-8|"the Big-8"]].

=== No, what I meant was "what kind of groups are you willing to create in the Big-8"? ===

* Groups that, in the judgment of the Board, are well-named and seem likely to be well-used.
* There are some kinds of proposals that the Board is [[discouraged|reluctant to consider]].

=== What do you mean by "well-named"? ===
* The proposed name's spelling and syntax should fit in with the [[Names|traditional standards for Usenet and the Big-8]].
* The [[Content_and_Format_of_a_Request_for_Discussion_(RFD)#5._Charter|charter]] of the group should be consistent with the name of the group.

=== What do you mean by "well-used"? ===
* We mean that there are, as a general rule, a reasonable number of on-topic posts in the group.
* At the negative end of the scale, it is clear that a group that has no on-topic posts for a long time is not being well-used. Such groups may be [[Rmgroup|removed]] from the [[Checkgroups|canonical list of Big-8 newsgroups]] if, in the judgment of the Board, they are dead and do not have any likelihood of being revived.

=== Where do I go if I want an alt.* group? ===

* [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.config?hl=en|google alt.config]
* [news:alt.config news:alt.config ]
* For more information, see [[other_hierarchies|this discussion]] of other Usenet hierarchies, including alt.

=== Why isn't the newsgroup I want to read available through my news service? ===

* Every news administrator decides what groups to carry and what groups not to carry. You will have to contact your [NSP|news service provider (NSP)]] directly to find out why some groups are not carried. The Board would be happy to work with you and your NSP to see that the group is [[compliance|correctly configured]] on the news server so that posts made on the server circulate to all other servers that carry the big-8 and so that all posts made on all such servers appear on your news server.

== Newsgroup Charters ==
=== What is a newsgroup charter? ===
* It is a brief description of the purpose and scope of a newsgroup.
* Every Request for Discussion (RFD) for a new newsgroup must have some kind of charter. See point 5 on the [[RFD|description of the contents of an RFD]].

=== Will the board make the people in our newsgroup obey the charter of the group? ===

* No.

=== Why not? ===
* There are too many newsgroups--and too many disagreements about the meaning of charters!--for the board to become involved.
* There is no way to identify who "the people in our newsgroup" are.
* There is no mechanism in NNTP to enforce punishments on people who refuse to follow the charters.
* There is no mechanism to erase old charters and replace them with new charters.
* Except for moderated groups (a whole different kettle of fish), newsgroups have no "owners" who can impose and enforce charters or changes in charters.

=== So what good are the @#$%*& charters anyway? ===
* The charters in RFDs help people decide whether a group should be created.
* If the group is created, the charter provides some kind of touchstone for the original purpose and scope of the group.

=== May we change the charter of our newsgroup? ===

* Yes, in practice. A newsgroup is whatever the participants make of it.
* No, not in the [ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control]ISC archives]. The original charter is contained in the control message that creates the group. The ISC collects those control messages in their archive. There is no method at present to change the archives.
* Yes, by convention. The last (signed) control message in the archive might overrule all predecessors. This convention is used in ''de.*''.

== Board Policies ==

=== How does the Board make decisions? ===
* We discuss things among ourselves on a private mailing list.
* When necessary, we take a vote using these [[Board Voting Policies|general guidelines]].

=== How are new members added to the Board? ===
* We [[Adding members|ask for volunteers]], then vote on who will become a member.

=== What are the terms of office? ===
* [[Membership|Roughly 18 months (renewable).]]

=== Why doesn't the Board conduct its discussions in public? ===
* Publishing the transcript of the discussions would invite commentary, which would mean that everything any member said would have to be publicly explained and defended.
* Keeping the discussion private allows us to speak our minds freely, both about issues and about persons involved in the issues.

=== Can I join the Board mailing list? ===

Not unless you're a [[b8mb|member of the Board]].

=== How can I discuss things with the Board publicly or privately? ===

* Publicly:
** Post in news.groups.
** Post in news.groups.proposals about a particular proposal.
* Privately: Send email to [mailto:board@big-8.org board@big-8.org], which will go to the whole Board.

=== Why doesn't the Board reveal how its members voted? ===
* We do not see any use for that information other than to make the members of the Board targets of ridicule and harassment. We would be willing to tolerate the additional abuse if we felt that there was some benefit in posting individual votes, but we don't.
* Who voted which way is not important; what is important is ''why'' Board members voted the way they did. That is made clear during the discussion of a proposal in news.groups and/or news.groups.proposals. Members of the Board actively participate in those discussions and share their reasons for supporting or opposing proposals. All that would be accomplished by restating these reasons when announcing the Board's decision would be to spark useless repetition of discussion that has already taken place.
* Once a decision is reached by the Board, it is the decision of the entire Board, not its individual members, and the Board should unite in supporting its implementation. Posting the votes of individual Board members who opposed the final decision would serve to divide rather than unite and hence would obstruct the implementation of the decision.

=== Are there unwritten rules that the Board follows? ===

* Yes.

=== What are the unwritten rules? ===

* I can't tell you. They're, uh, unwritten.

=== Why don't you write them down? ===

* Because they are matters of common sense, netiquette, politesse, sound reasoning, and the like. They are things that "go without saying," so we don't say them.

=== Do all the members of the Board speak for the Board? ===

* It depends on the situation.
* Each member of the Board wears two or more [[The Apache Software Foundation's Concept of "Hats"|"hats"]]. Each member is encouraged to participate in news.groups as an individual, expressing his or her own views of the topics being discussed. Such personal opinions ought not to be attributed to the Board as a whole, unless the member is reporting or commenting on a policy or decision that has been formally enacted by the Board.
* Board members may also serve on committees of the Board ([[volunteer|Group Mentors, Dead Groups Task Force, UVP, etc.]]), thus picking up another hat to wear when posting in news.groups or elsewhere.

=== Why don't you require all Board members to vote? ===
* It's impossible to know who is and who is not available to vote once a vote begins. Stuff happens (e.g., tale's motorcycle accident) and sometimes people get busy with The Rest of Life (tm). If enough members of the Board participate in the vote so that a motion is decided, that is sufficient for our purposes. If we were meeting face-to-face instead of conducting votes through e-mail, we would, of course, expect all present to vote.

=== What do you mean by "enough members"? ===
* That is spelled out in the ninth point of the [[Board Voting Policies|internal voting policies]] that we have adopted: "A vote requires at least half of the active members voting or explicitly abstaining in order to be decisive."

== Miscellaneous Questions ==

=== What is all that ugly stuff in news.groups? ===

* Somebody doesn't like us. They forge a huge stream of very offensive posts to try do drown out the conversation. Some people call the spew of forged posts "sporgery."

=== Can't you stop them? ===

* No. [[usenet|Usenet]] is a loose confederation of news servers that spans the globe. There is no central administration. Access to each of the myriad of news servers is given by the administrator of each independent server. No one can tell a news adminstrator how to run his or her news server.

* If you wish to have a more highly structured and controlled environment, you might try to resurrect [http://www.usenet2.org/ Usenet II]. For now, the Big-8 newsgroups exist in the quasi-chaotic universe of Usenet I.

=== Why don't they like you? ===

* You'll have to ask the sporger that.

* A regular in news.groups wrote: "While it appears most of the dissenters in here are decent people with differing points of view ... , there are some who would cheerfully leave the place a smoldering crater if it isn't run their way."

=== Are board members required to read everything in news.groups? ===
* No. The members of the board are free to read as much or as little of the traffic in news.group according to their own taste and temperament.

=== Suppose someone wants to discuss big-8 policy in news.groups? ===
* They may. It is an unmoderated group that has a [[Big-8#History_of_news.groups|long history]] of policy discussions.

=== What if I want to make sure the board sees my proposal? ===
* Use a helpful subject line.
* [mailto:board@big-8.org E-mail the board] about the thread you have started.
* Crosspost to [[news.groups.proposals]].

=== What's a wiki? ===

* A set of pages that can be quickly created and easily modified by a group of people. [[wp>Wiki|"Wiki"]] is Hawaiian for "quick." See the bottom of each page for a link to [[wiki:dokuwiki|DokuWiki]].

=== Aren't wikis supposed to allow anyone and everyone to contribute? ===
* Yes, that was the original theory on the original wiki.

=== So this is not a ''real'' wiki? ===
* Correct.

=== Who is skirv? ===

* Tim Skirvin, was chair of the [[b8mb|Big-8 Management Board (B8MB)]] from 2006-2008. For more on spaf, tale, Russ, and skirv, see the [[Big-8|history of the Big-8]].

=== Why are you using a web site instead of newsgroups? ===

* Web sites are a tool that can be used to improve the understanding and functioning of newsgroups. They are easily searched and can be maintained as a repository of useful information.
* The web site is a backup for communicating through newsgroups.
* There is a high signal-to-noise ratio in a static environment.
* The site acts as a possible entry port for web surfers to become interested in news.groups.
* It is a standard tool used in hierarchy administration: "Have a web site. Try to make sure that the URL for your hierarchy web site is stable and doesn't change, since the URL makes it into various FAQs and configuration files that live for years. Put all of the hierarchy information on the web site, and make sure that the web site stays up to date" ([http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/usenet-hier.html|Usenet Hierarchy Administration FAQ]).
* The Web site / Wiki model is more effective than a newsgroup for publishing or consuming certain kinds of content, including the content of this site.

==== Yes, but shouldn't stuff about Usenet stay on Usenet? ====

The point of view that Usenet should not rely on any outside communication medium made more sense when the Usenet could reasonably be considered separate from the Internet. Although it is still possible to transmit and receive Usenet traffic without using the Internet, in reality the vast majority of Usenet readers and servers work over the Internet, and the number of Usenet users and administrators who do not have access to the Internet and the Web is vanishingly small. As such, it is appropriate to consider the Usenet part of the vast tapestry of Internet communication media, and it is therefore appropriate to take advantage of other pieces of that tapestry when doing so enhances and/or simplifies the Usenet administration process.

=== How Do You Pronounce "B8MB"? ===

* I say "8-Bomb." Others tackle it differently. "Bembi"? "Bambi"? "Bait 'em"? There is a small cottage industry devoted to multiplying nicknames for the group.

=== Why Do You Have So Many Committees? ===

* Not all of the Board members are equally talented or equally interested in the tasks required to manage the business of the Board.
* Many hands make light work (sometimes).
* We're hoping to make more room for people to [[volunteer|volunteer their time and talent]].

== Links ==
{| {{Prettytable}}
|-
Pages in This Site
|-
|[[b8mb|Current Board Members]]
|-
|[[Big-8|Short history of the Big-8]]
|-
|[[Links|Other Usenet Links]]
|-
|[[Glossary]]
|-
!Classic FAQs
|-
|[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/ Internet FAQ Archives]
|-
|[http://www.swcp.com/~dmckeon/mod-faq.html Moderated Newsgroups FAQ]
|}
[[Category:FAQs]]
[[Category:Big-8 Management]]

The Great Downsizing 2011/1

2011-02-03T23:57:16Z

Kathym: /* Pointers */

===History===
{|class="big8Table"
!Date
!Description
!Archive
|-
|2011-02-01
|1st RFD
|[[Nan:2011-02-01-rfd-great-downsizing]]
|}

===Pointers===
{|class="big8TableNoWrap"
!Date
!Message-ID
!Scope
!Posted to
|-
|2011-02-01
|<KHt*GiHut@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>
|comp.sys.psion.*
|comp.sys.psion.comm,comp.sys.psion.marketplace,comp.sys.psion.misc
|-
|2011-02-02
|<iibjrh$sfa$1@four.albasani.net>
|comp.unix.*
|comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.admin,comp.unix.programmer
|-
|2011-02-02
|<1jw21ad.7kg57pd3f0a3N%kmorgan@spamcop.net>
|*
|news.admin.announce
|-
|2011-02-03
|<vb6dnbagmtozntfQnZ2dnUVZ_qWdnZ2d@iswest.net>
|sci.aquaria
|sci.aquaria,sci.misc
|-
|2011-02-03
|<vb6dnbGgmtqFmdfQnZ2dnUVZ_qUAAAAA@iswest.net>
|sci.engr.coastal
|sci.engr.coastal,sci.misc,sci.engr
|-
|2011-02-03
|<vb6dnbCgmtosmdfQnZ2dnUVZ_qWdnZ2d@iswest.net>
|sci.engr.marine.hydrodynamics
|sci.engr.marine.hydrodynamics,sci.misc,sci.engr
|-
|2011-02-03
|<JOmdnVCSMOqFm9fQnZ2dnUVZ_gGdnZ2d@iswest.net>
|sci.med.occupational
|sci.med.occupational,sci.misc,sci.med
|-
|2011-02-03
|<g-GdnSENN-UTddTQnZ2dnUVZ_gCdnZ2d@iswest.net>
|soc.adoption.parenting
|soc.adoption.parenting
|-
|2011-02-03
|<ZfKdnU47Y7zjd9TQnZ2dnUVZ_oGdnZ2d@iswest.net>
|soc.college.teaching-asst
|soc.college.teaching-asst,soc.college,soc.college.grad,soc.misc
|-
|2011-02-03
|<ZfKdnUk7Y7ykdtTQnZ2dnUVZ_oEAAAAA@iswest.net>
|soc.support.depression.seasonal
|soc.support.depression.seasonal,soc.support.depression.misc,soc.misc
|-
|2011-02-03
|<iif69r$nl5$1@four.albasani.net>
|comp.graphics.*
|comp.graphics.api.misc,comp.graphics.misc,comp.graphics.apps.photoshop,comp.graphics.api.opengl
|-
|2011-02-03
|<iif73v$oof$1@four.albasani.net>
|comp.games.development.*
|comp.games.development.programming.misc,comp.games.development.design,comp.games.development.programming.algorithms
|-
|2011-02-03
|<iifa76$tcd$1@four.albasani.net>
|comp.infosystems.*
|comp.infosystems,comp.infosystems.www.misc,comp.infosystems.www.servers.misc
|-
|2011-02-03
|<iifbj4$vtn$1@four.albasani.net>
|comp.lang.pascal.*
|comp.lang.pascal.delphi.misc,comp.lang.pascal.misc,comp.lang.pascal.borland
|-
|2011-02-03
|<1jw4ao1.d5z32tsd7lpeN%kmorgan@spamcop.net>
|comp.os.os2.programmer.*
|comp.os.os2.programmer.oop,comp.os.os2.programmer.misc
|-

===See also:===
*[[Final RFD / Last Call for Comments]]
*[[Content and Format of a Request for Discussion (RFD)]]
*[[Mass removal of groups]]

[[Category:Group Removal]]

Charter for news.announce.important

2010-09-14T01:49:03Z

Kathym:

Moderated Group news.announce.important

CHARTER:

The news.announce.important newsgroup is intended to be a VERY LOW
VOLUME newsgroup for general announcements that are so important
that nearly everyone on Usenet should read them. While
announcements about Usenet, UUCPnet, or the Internet are certainly
within the scope of the newsgroup, in rare cases, announcements
about other topics that are of great interest to the readers of the
newsgroup may be accepted.

news.announce.important exists for the benefit of its readers, not
for the benefit of the author of an announcement. No announcement
will be accepted unless reading the announcement will be of primary
benefit to the reader. In particular, this means that commercial
advertisements, announcements of new programs, and other
announcements whose primary purpose is to benefit the poster will be
rejected.

Postings to this newsgroup must conform to these rules. Exceptions
to the rules are at the sole discretion of the moderator.

(1) Announcements must be short. The target length is 20
lines, so that the posting plus headers fits in a single display
screen. All extra text, such as .signature files, should be trimmed
before submission. Long announcements (especially those over 60
lines) will generally be refused, although if they are posted
elsewhere, a short pointer article giving the newsgroup, date, and
Message-ID of the full article might be accepted if it meets all
other criteria.

(2) News.announce.important is a worldwide newsgroup. Postings
must be of worldwide interest. There is no way to make a local
posting in this newsgroup: find a local announcement or general
newsgroup for local postings.

(3) Cross-posting is generally disallowed. If the announcement
is to be accepted for news.announce.important, it should stand
alone. The quarterly posting of this charter, crossposted to
news.answers, is an exception to this rule.

(4) All articles must be approved by the moderator before
posting. In some cases, the moderator may ask the advice of a panel
of other moderators, but the final decision rests with the
moderator.

(5) Only articles of general interest to most of those using
newsgroups are acceptable. Specialized articles should be posted to
an appropriate special interest newsgroup.

(6) Discussions in this newsgroup are not permitted. Second
and subsequent submissions on the same subject will be rejected. If
a discussion is anticipated, include a Followup-To: header line to
another appropriate newsgroup. (It is suggested that the same
message or a pointer to the message in news.announce.important be
separately posted to that other newsgroup.) If a Followup-To:
header line is not provided and the original submitter has not
provided a valid E-mail address, feedback to the posting will likely
be lost.

(7) Postings must be of primary benefit to the readers, not to
the poster.

(8) All postings must be in English. At the moderators'
discretion, however, the English content may be followed in the same
posting by content expressed in another language with the same
meaning and sense as the English content.

Examples of acceptable and unacceptable postings:

"A new type of message will be posted to Usenet that will break any
software older than 3 years, effective in 2 months. Please upgrade
your software by then or disconnect the machine from the net". This
would likely be approved.

"The Internet is running out of IP addresses, please conserve your
addresses and give any you are not using back to the NIC." This
would likely be approved.

"Please do not send any more cards to Craig Shergold, he got into
the Guinness Book of Records years ago and no longer needs them, the
cards are causing problems in the Post Office." This would likely
be approved.

"We have a new wonderful spiffy product for sale." This would
likely be rejected as being commercial.

"Call for Papers for the Computers in Astrology Conference". This
would likely be rejected as not of general interest; it should
instead be submitted to news.announce.conferences.

"The Australian Internet is in trouble - write your legislator".
This would likely be rejected as of only regional interest; it
should instead be submitted to a regional newsgroup.

"Dinette Set for Sale in Denver". This would likely be rejected as
it violates most of the policies.

"The Former Soviet Union is announcing the sale of mining and
mineral rights at bargain prices." This would likely be rejected as
being too commercial.

"There will be a showing of the movie 'The Graduate' at the Student
Union at 7 PM Saturday night." This would likely be rejected as of
only local interest.

This charter will be posted to news.announce.important quarterly.

MODERATION POLICY:

The moderators shall operate in a manner that enforces the charter.

MODERATOR INFO:

All moderators are selected from the membership of the Big8-Usenet
Management Board. The members of the Management Board are listed at
<http://www.big-8.org/wiki/Big-8_Management_Board>. The Management
Board may be reached via E-mail at <board@big-8.org>.

(Adapted from the original News.Announce.Important Policy, last modified
September 28, 1993, by the previous moderator, Mark Horton.)

Charter for news.announce.important

2010-09-06T15:00:54Z

Kathym: Created page with "Moderated Group news.announce.important CHARTER: The news.announce.important newsgroup is intended to be a VERY LOW VOLUME newsgroup for general announcements that are so impor..."