Reporting chronic problems

[Octocontrabass]

at some point I’m going to have to migrate away from GRUB

You don't have to, GRUB works with (U)EFI. (That said, it's perfectly reasonable if you want to migrate away from GRUB.)

As for the actual thread's topic... I'm just here to delete spam, I don't even have access to most of the moderator controls.

[klange]

Following on Octocontrabass's comment... I was also added to the moderation team entirely to fight spam, though I do have access to the moderation controls so I can take punitive measures where necessary. It is clear to me that a handful of our members have exhibited some undesirable behavior on the forums in the last year or so, and they should know who they are. I will keep this brief: Knock it off, or I will take matters into my own hands.

[StudlyCaps]

Following on Octocontrabass's comment... I was also added to the moderation team entirely to fight spam, though I do have access to the moderation controls so I can take punitive measures where necessary. It is clear to me that a handful of our members have exhibited some undesirable behavior on the forums in the last year or so, and they should know who they are. I will keep this brief: Knock it off, or I will take matters into my own hands.

Not to cause any more drama, but if there's going to be a change in moderation policy, please can you describe less ambiguously what the undesirable behaviour is?

[klange]

Not to cause any more drama, but if there's going to be a change in moderation policy, please can you describe less ambiguously what the undesirable behaviour is?

There is no change in policy here, more just a reminder of what has been in the rules for years: "No flaming. No obscenities. Don't provoke fights or participate in fights started by others."

Generally, the forum has been a positive environment and it is rare that we have users who disobey these rules to a degree where action needs to be taken, but there have been a few instances in the past.

Personally, I would prefer that all of my moderation time be invested in the removal of spam rather than breaking up fights and deciding on punitive measures for otherwise productive contributors who have chosen a hill to die on.

[Korona]

There is no change in policy here, more just a reminder of what has been in the rules for years: "No flaming. No obscenities. Don't provoke fights or participate in fights started by others."

If moderation actually took actions whenever this rule is violated, this forum would be a better place.

For quite some time now, I have the impression that the mod team is somewhat reluctant to take firm action against rule violations. This has probably been the case since after fallout of bans done by Brendon (this is not a defense of Brendan - his moderation actions obviously were a problem, too).

Many personal attacks that are tolerated here would have resulted in hard bans on other technical forums. Even repeated ad-hominems seem to only result in mild warnings here, even if these go on for years. To be clear, I am not talking about a single member here (and I have no strong opinion that member X, Y or Z should be banned) but rather about my perception of the forum.

[nexos]

This has probably been the case since after fallout of bans done by Brendon (this is not a defense of Brendan - his moderation actions obviously were a problem, too).

I often wonder it Brendan was a very strict mod, or if he felt very strong of his opinions and banned people who disagreed.... I wonder if strict is better then passive. No defense of Brendan, though.

[Korona]

I think its possible to be strict on rule violations without banning people who disagree. It's unfortunate that the latter happened but that doesn't mean that we should not practice the former.

[klange]

As I have said before, I joined the moderation team to deal with spam. As such, I have been under the impression for some time that it was not my place to deal with other issues. If the consensus of our users is that we should be more proactive and direct in enforcement and other moderators are no longer actively involved in the management of the boards, then I will take on that responsibility. That said, banning is not the only tool at our disposal.

[Korona]

That said, banning is not the only tool at our disposal.

That's true.

Thank you for your involvement in this forum, I know that moderating online communities can be tedious.