Nan:2011-06-12-mvi-comp.os.linux.answers

From: Steve Bonine <spb@pobox.com>
Subject: Moderator Vacancy Investigation:  comp.os.linux.answers
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2011 09:06:28 EDT
Message-ID: <95jrp2F3j1U2@mid.individual.net>

                   MODERATOR VACANCY INVESTIGATION (MVI)
                   moderated group comp.os.linux.answers

This is a formal Moderator Vacancy Investigation (MVI), begun because 
moderated newsgroup comp.os.linux.answers is not functioning, and may 
have been abandoned by its moderator(s).

This investigation will attempt to verify the reasons for non-function, 
and may result in the removal of the group or the selection and 
installation of a new moderator.  In practice, the Big-8 Management 
Board considers the third alternative -- changing the status of the 
group from moderated to unmoderated -- as likely to cause more harm than 
good.

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
comp.os.linux.answers FAQs, How-To's, READMEs, etc. about Linux. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:

A probe post to this group resulted in a human response that submissions 
were no longer being approved.  Traffic stopped in 1998.

In an email exchange with the individual who is monitoring the 
submission address for the newsgroup, I was told, “There's not supposed 
to be any humans posting to the group.”  Another email contained the 
explanation “It's really not useful, the purpose of the group is to 
distribute the Linux HOWTOs which are *much* better distributed via the 
web - at the time the group was created that was a bit more useful but 
these days there's no real point.  It's not realistic to expect that 
someone's going to find stuff in a flood filled dump of documents that 
they couldn't more easily find via other distribution media.  If someone 
is struggling to find the documentation dumping the content into Usenet 
group is unlikely to help with that.”

Based on the activity in the comp.os.linux hierarchy, there remain 
people who appreciate Usenet as a resource.  If there is sufficient 
interest in reviving comp.os.linux.answers as a repository for HOWTO 
articles, it could be a valuable addition to the Usenet resource.  If 
not, it should be removed from the list of groups.

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
comp.os.linux.answers
comp.os.linux.misc

CHARTER

For posting Linux FAQs, How-To's, READMEs and other documents that 
answer questions about Linux.  This will help keep the traffic down in 
other c.o.l.* groups and will leave comp.os.linux.announce for true 
announcements.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

The newsgroup was created in a split of comp.os.linux.help on 13 
December 1994 by a vote of 1510:79.  With the exception of a few months 
with no traffic, it was active between December 1994 and March 1998.

In October 2004, an MVI was filed for the newsgroup.  On 9 November in 
<1100015117.25133@isc.org> the following result was announced: 
“comp.os.linux.answers will have a new moderation team.  Brian Edmonds 
will setup a moderation team among those who volunteered.  An 
announcement will be made by them, in the group only, when they are 
ready for the group to become active again.”  No such announcement ever 
appeared.

PROPONENT:  Steve Bonine <spb@pobox.com>

PROCEDURE:

Those who wish to comment on this moderator vacancy investigation should 
subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the relevant 
threads in that newsgroup.  To this end, the followup header of this MVI 
has been set to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the MVI process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/wiki/Moderator_Vacancy_Investigations

CHANGE HISTORY:

12 June 2011:  Moderator Vacancy Investigation