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From: jesup@mizar.steinmetz (Randell Jesup)
Newsgroups: news.groups,news.misc,news.stargate,news.sysadmin,news.admin
Subject: Re: the USENET problems
Message-ID: <6657@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 10-Jul-87 17:37:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: steinmet.6657
Posted: Fri Jul 10 17:37:24 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 12-Jul-87 13:17:39 EDT
References: <266@brandx.rutgers.edu> <15982@gatech.gatech.edu>
Sender: root@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP
Reply-To: jesup@mizar.UUCP (Randell Jesup)
Organization: General Electric CRD, Schenectady, NY
Lines: 35
Summary: New moderator scheme [No Flames]
Xref: mnetor news.groups:1221 news.misc:744 news.stargate:247 news.sysadmin:297 news.admin:679

[page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu said one of the current problems with the net
is the lack of reliability and promptness in moderated groups.]

	This is definitely a problem.  Mailers can be unreliable, moderators
go on vacation, work at jobs, have personal lives.  Often (in the more
popular groups), I suspect they get overloaded.
		Proposed solution/improvement for comment:
	How about when you post to a moderated group, it checks to see who
the moderator is (as it does now).  If there is more than one(!), put up 
something like:
		Mail to which Moderator?
			(1) page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (shortest path)
			(2) jesup@ge-crd.arpa
			(3) anyman@anyunix.uucp
	It could have different moderators for different parts of the net
(hard), or could try to estimate which is the easiest to reach (not easy),
or not bother, in deciding the ordering.  That way, when moderators go on
vacation, the users could route to the others, etc.  The moderators could
even send out control messages saying they'll be gone for a period, and not
have their name come up.  
	This would also allow each moderator (if there are more than one) to
to handle a reasonable flow, and improve the reliability in cases where 
moderators seem to 'disappear' for periods of time.
	Another variant would be to have some sort of 'regional' moderators,
probably not very easy given the current net topography.

	If the backbone is so enamored of moderated groups, I assume they're
interested in making moderation work well enough to be more acceptable for
the rest of the net.

	Opinions?

		Randell Jesup
		jesup@ge-crd.arpa
		jesup@steinmetz.uucp