Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!leah!bingvaxu!sunybcs!rutgers!att!alberta!ubc-cs!van-bc!norsat!dave
From: dave@norsat.UUCP (Dave Binette)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Scrap the current NG creation procedure, invent a new one
Summary: Use control messages to query then to vote
Keywords: newgroup, vote, control
Message-ID: <63@norsat.UUCP>
Date: 29 Mar 89 00:01:11 GMT
References: <3010@looking.UUCP>
Reply-To: uunet!van-bc!dave@norsat.UUCP (Dave Binette)
Organization: Norsat International Research Inc. Surrey, BC, CANADA
Lines: 85

In article <3010@looking.UUCP> brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes:
>I feel all this talk about refinement of the current procedure misses
>the point.
>
>The current procedure isn't working at all, in my opinion.  What good
>does it do to refine it and add more bureaucracy?
>
>Replace it with what?  The next posting says.  If you have a real
>replacement, let's hear yours, too.

I am so glad you asked!  Well for what its worth (and I do not have a broad
perspective on the implications of this, not being familiar with the diverse
implimentations of news gathering/reading software available) here are my
suggestions.

1) A survey asking people why they want a new newsgroup is not needed.
   A yes or no vote is sufficient.
2) it must be very easy and quick to vote (once).
3) It must post results.
4) It must be automatic.
5) The initial request for creation should be moderated.
   (to prevent duplication of same group creation requests)
6) The moderators denial to authorize a creation request must be published.

Those are the basic tennets of my proposal, brief scheme follows.

The moderator shall be ELECTED, subject to review, and well connected.

The moderator will receive e-mail from a net user proposing creation of a 
newsgroup.  If the newsgroup exists or is in the process of being voted on or
if its a proposal that has been rejected within the last 3 months it will be
rejected and the net so informed.

The proposer will provide information including:
	1) The proposers mail address.
	2) The name of the group
	3) The proposed distribution.
	4) The reason the group is being proposed
	5) description of the groups content, use, intent, caveats, and 
	   the "do's and don'ts" of the newsgroup.
	6) expirary date of the newsgroup itself.
	7) the entire proposal must be short! ( 50 lines MAXIMUM )

(I prefer a database format with #directive lines.)

The moderator shall include a cutoff date for collection of votes which
shall not be less than 7 days or more than 21 days.

That information will, at the hands of the moderator, be posted to the net.

Upon receipt of a vote request, a user may cast a simple YES or NO vote
for the creation of the newsgroup.

the result of the vote will be automatically forwarded to the moderator and
a monitor.

At the end of the voting period the results will be posted by the moderator and
will show the id and yes or no vote of each valid response and the total
of the two votes.
The monitor will post a totals of the two votes.

If the results are reasonably consistent (allowances for connectivity etc).
and the result favors creation, the ORIGINAL person who proposed the newsgroup
may issue a newgroup control request.

Both the monitor and the moderator will e-mail the results to the person
who proposed the creation of the newsgroup and clearly state the status of
the vote saying:
The vote for the creation of "...newsgroup..." has been taken,
and the consensus is (either YES or NO)


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Well thats my proposal.  By making it EASY and QUICK to vote, its my gut
feeling that the yes/no ratios will be much more accurate.

This whole thing can be handled by a handful of simple programs to manage
the process.

-- 
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