its true that cross posting is the greatest problem sci.*
groups are facing. its also true that this problem arose
because of a handful number of people who made it their
agenda. now here is the question: is AUTO-MODERATION a
satisfactory solution?
although auto-moderation will completely eliminate cross-posting,
it cannot prevent a handful of inspired activists from hijacking
the group for their own agendas. anyone who is committed to the
destruction of sci.* groups, can easily continue what they are
doing today. isn't it very easy to write a "shell-script" which will
keep posting junk to scit?
so, the proposed solution, i am afraid, has a gaping loophole
which would only result in frustrating any activism left in
dedicated sciters like Kamala, Ramana, Sitaramayya, Suresh garlu.
with all due respect, i would request everyone to consider
an alternative solution. this is on the lines of the newsgroups
rec.sport.cricket and rec.sport.cricket.info. while the former
is unmoderated, the latter is a moderated version which contains
the right mix of extracts from the former. i.e. r.s.c.info is
like our own telugu digest. since telugu digest is already being
compiled by one dedicated editor, why not form s.c.i.t.extracts
which is compiled by a group of editors/moderators. isn't it enough
if we have a group of seven moderators, each taking care of a
particular day in the week. if more enthusiasts volunteer to
do the job, we can even have 15 of them. then, its just twice
a month that a volunteer has to serve. i do not think its
impossible to get 7, if not 15, volunteers.
obviously, there can be better solutions than the one i
suggested. the main idea is to see that these efforts
do not fall prey to the agendas of a handful of people.
we should design a real good solution, before the RFD and CFV
process is initiated.
regards
prasad chodavarapu
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