I made a thread about the rules, and I want to give people a place to at least talk about them.

[CrazedNerd]

Every forum needs to kick out the spammers and jerks because the range of discussion topics becomes more limited when they take over, not less.

The politics one will always be subject to make occasional allowances since it's such a broad topic and relates to so many things, i guess you can say that linux is a "religion" but no its just a kernal and should not treated as a religion or else that defeats the whole point of open source.

 

[KGIII]

I like to think of the job, as I've said many times, as that of a glorified janitor - and not even all that glorified.

Most of my 'work' is in the approval process. That process helps keep the site free of spam. Ideally, no spam will ever make it to the actual forum and we do a pretty good job at making that a reality.

Then, there are times when you get someone who just won't follow the rules. I'm patient for a while and then they get the boot. Unless it's outlandish or spam, everyone had numerous opportunities to change their behavior before I whacked 'em with the ban hammer.

And it can be REALLY hard to discuss some topics without a little politics. Unless it's controversial and so long as it's minor - and relevant to the topic - I have let little infractions pass while generally warning folks that they're approaching the line in the sand.

 

[charlie.corder]

@KGIII @wizardfromoz
Hey guys,
Thanks for doing a thankless job, and doing it well.
If someone wants to discuss politics, there are many political forums on the internet. Same thing goes for religious topics.
To use a tech site to try to proselyte people over to whatever it is that you believe, is mis-use of the site.
My mother barely finished high school, but she had a degree in life. She told me early in life to avoid discussions on politics and religion. She was correct.
Once again, thanks for running an excellent forum.
Old Geez {as my kids and grandkids call me}
Tango Charlie

 

[KGIII]

For the most part, it's pretty easy. People come and go, mostly following the rules without having even ever read them. (I call that behaving like a human.) Then, we have people who know the rules and intentionally violate them. After all, unless it's extremely egregious, I make sure everyone knows the rules before I ban 'em. I give 'em ample warning. If they get banned, it's because they chose to get banned.

That's how I do it, at any rate.

Behind the scenes, we do tend to discuss things like that. There's usually some discussion with every ban, where we mods/admins interact and exchange thoughts on the matter. There's often some discussion before the banning, as well. Time (and antics) sometimes means we don't get to talk about it ahead of time.

We mods are individuals. So, at least for me, you're gonna know it before you get banned. (Unless you do things like come post racist material speckled with obscenities, and then I'd just ban the person without any discussion.) You pretty much have to put effort into getting banned.