Thanks Bob,
I've heard from Giovanni and unfortunately work has taken over for him and he doesn't have time to administer the beginners mailing list any longer.
As you may be aware there are two categories of 'administrators' for mailman mailing lists: administrators and moderators. The way the list is currently configured you, "Bob Courchaine" bobc@nfldinet.com, are listed as the only 'administrator'. (Giovanni was one but has asked to be removed and I have done so.) Then there are three 'moderators': "Thushar G R" thushar.gr@gmail.com, "Michaeal Davies" mykdavies@gmail.com, and "Ziya Suzen" ziya@suzen.net.
Moderators have one task which is to deal with the moderation queue and there is a separate interface with this with a separate password and this is the only interface to which a moderator would normally have access. Administrators on the other hand have full access to the administrative interface for the mailing list which includes the moderation queue as well as the overall mailing list settings, membership management, etc. An administrator is expected to take responsibility for the list overall, with backing from the Box Admins team when needed.
As I said above you are currently listed as an 'administrator' and I hope you will be willing to take and continue in that responsibility. Also as I said above there are three others listed as moderator; presumably, given the size of the moderation queue, they have forgotten this. I have included them in the Cc for this email and I hope they will speak up and be willing to continue in that duty, assuming it is needed. Additionally I have Cc'ed Casey Ransberger who has expressed a willingness to help out if it is needed and you may want to speak with him if you feel you would appreciate his help.
Assuming you are willing to act as administrator I propose the following:
1. I generate new administrator and moderator passwords, set them in the mailman interface, and give these to you. (In practice the moderation queue can be accessed with either the administrator or moderator password.)
2. I 'nuke' the current moderation queue as it is simply too large to moderate in a normal fashion.
3. You continue as before and speak with the other moderators and possibly Casey about how to proceed with moderation in the future.
Assuming the other moderators are willing to continue in that position I would ask that they contact you and coordinate with you and get the moderation password (which I will have given you) from you.
In the long run I think it worth considering eliminating the bulk of the need to moderate the mailing list by setting the list to discard all messages from non-subscribers. The beginners list is one of the last to not take this step. The list is a bit different and I understand why you might want to take this route. It might be worth discussing with the list members however. I can offer the ability to automatically whitelist anyone who is subscribed already to the squeak-dev mailing list.
Please get back to me and if you are willing I will start the process I outlined above.
Thanks,
Ken
On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 5:01 AM, Bob Courchaine bobc@nfldinet.com wrote:
i am still interested in helping, Ken. let me know the particulars and i'll get back at it!
re: Giovanni, yes, he and i had shared the duties of spam patrol but i've not heard from/of him for some time.