Re: Mailing Lists (was Re: Evolving AppCache discussions)

Henri Sivonen, Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:18:05 +0300:
> suggestions that could help refocus the list:
> 
>  1) Enforce the discussion guidelines swiftly and effectively. Instead
> of public warnings that drag on for months or years without remedying
> the situation, obvious violations of the discussion guidelines should
> result in a timeout (i.e. temporary ban from posting) immediately.
> Obvious repeat violations should result in a removal from the working
> group.
> 
>  2) Stop sending bugmail to the list.
> 
>  3) Declare a ban on ratholing on known-rathole topics (such as
> longdesc) on public-html and enforce per #1. (That is, let ratholing
> move elsewhere instead of everything else routing around public-html.)

Though I have supported Maciej's proposal, two (compromise) thoughts: 

	1) Obligatory message reception from all sub-groups: 
	   Today, all HTMLwg members must receive mail from public-html@ - we 
can't even set it to digest mode. And so, the chairs' goal of avoiding 
fragmentation could also - at least to a degree - be achieved by 
expanding that policy to more lists by making it obligatory for all 
members to receive messages (in some form) from all the sub groups. If 
we made an arrangement like this, then it would be an advantage to 
place the name of the list in the subject, so that it became (even) 
simpler to separate the mail. Eventually, when not a *member* of to a 
sub-group (that is: when only receiving the messages from the list but 
being without ability to post), the default could be to receive the 
messages as digest. (Thus, when member of a subgroup, one would *not* 
receive digest mode.) Another variant, instead of digest mode, could be 
to receive messages from certain "all-in-one" mailing list, to which no 
one has posting right.

	2) Banning debate from public-html when there is a dedicated sub list
	   When we have a sub-group, then all debate of issues belonging to a 
subject of that subgroup, should take place there. Exemplifying with 
longdesc: Today we have a dedicated A11Y group where longdesc belongs. 
Any debate of it should happen there. Discussing it on public-html 
could be banned and be considered a breach of etiquette except when 
there is an official reason to take it up in the full quorum. If a 
non-A11Y member wants to break into the discussion, he or she could so 
by sending a message to public-html-a11y@.

Other things/Alternatives: I subscribed to the testing list the other 
day, and was surprised that it was a little bit difficult to find the 
information about. May be it would be an idea to learn from the design 
of the Web site of WHATwg.org - on the front page there is e.g. a 
dedicated 'corner' for all the mailing lists.
-- 
leif halvard silli

Received on Monday, 24 September 2012 16:31:16 UTC