Nan:2007-10-10-news.groups.policy-rfd

From: Jim Riley <jimrtex@pipeline.com>
Subject: RFD: news.groups.policy
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, news.groups.proposals
Followup-To: news.groups.proposals
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:47:21 -0500
Organization: http://www.big-8.org/

                      REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
                  unmoderated group news.groups.policy

This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of the
unmoderated Usenet newsgroup, news.groups.policy.


NEWSGROUPS LINE: news.groups.policy

news.groups.policy	Discussion of Big 8 newsgroup policy.




RATIONALE: news.groups.policy

When news.groups.proposals was created, it was intended primarily for
discussion of formal proposals to create, rename, and remove
newsgroups in the Big 8.  But it was also designated as a place for
discussing formal proposals that would modify the Big 8, such as
policy proposals.

However, discussion of policy in general was left in news.groups. This
has left an ambiguity as to where policy discussion should be
conducted, based on whether they were attached to a formal proposal or
not.

The nature of group proposals (ie creation, removal, re-organizations,
renaming, etc.) tends to be different than that of policy proposals.
The group proposal discussions are typically short-lived and result in
a simple decision to create or remove a group.

Policy proposals are often difficult to distinguish from ongoing
policy discussion that has been going on for years or even decades.

Removal of discussion of policy proposals from news.groups.proposals
will simplify the moderation of news.groups.proposals, and provide a
single place for discussion of policy matters with regard to the Big
8.

This proposal does not change the status of new.groups as an
unmoderated newsgroup, though it may remove much of its remaining
practical utility.  news.groups may continue to be used for subjects
such as:

-- explaining how things work.

-- assessing the culture of Usenet and the
   big-8.

-- offering advice on netiquette or providing
   strategies for dealing with newsgroup problems.

-- maintaining contact with friends and colleagues.


CHARTER:

The unmoderated newsgroup news.groups.policy is used for discussion of
policy regarding the Big-8 newsgroups, including its management.
Related topics, such as the history of the Big-8 and Usenet, traffic
statistics, the viability of newsgroups vs. alternatives, etc. may
also may be discussed.

Policy discussion may include formal proposals that would change the
policy and procedures of management of the Big 8 hierarchies.  To that
end, the moderator of news.announce.newsgroups may designate
news.groups.policy, rather than news.groups.proposals, as the
appropriate place for discussion of a formal policy proposal.

In general, the moderators of news.groups.proposals should discourage
cross-posting of discussion between news.groups.proposals and
news.groups.policy.





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-To' header of this RFD has been set to this group.

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
(e.g., 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 (moderated)
  news.groups.proposals (moderated)
  news.groups


PROPONENT:

Jim Riley <jimrtex@pipeline.com>



CHANGE HISTORY:

2007-10-10     1st RFD