With that out of the way, do people think it's worth going back
on autopilot for a while?  It was working pretty well.
 
After that brief flurry of "problems" (the only ones in 5 years)
culminating in me being called a "Tyranical (sic) Dictator", plus
a couple of unsubscribes, I think it's probably worth opening
up discussion of whether I'm doing the right thing or not.  In order
to make it possible for people to speak their mind, I have come
up with a way for you to "post" anonymously if you wish.  If it's
okay with Bill that is.  Namely, send your comments to Bill
Gruber ([log in to unmask]), he'll strip the identification
information, and submit it as an anonymous message to the list.
 
I'll leave things off autopilot for a while so that I can regulate
flow to something manageable if a lynch mob gets rolling.
Bill can report on whether I've interfered with the contents.
 
I just ask that people be brief, and I'd prefer that people commenting
should have been a subscriber for at least 10 issues.
 
This is a brief description of FML policy:
    1) must be on the subject of ferrets, or about a subscriber.
       Ie: on topic, or of concern to other subscribers.
    2) no material that I feel is simply offensive.
       (this, of course, has to take into account timing too).
    3) no ARC (or similar) propaganda.
    4) No forgeries.  Ie: return email addresses should be valid -
       aside from what I'm proposing above, I should be able to
       identify the origin of any message.  Which can be suppressed
       when the mailing list is sent out (if requested).
    5) I don't alter content of anything.
    6) News or network gatewaying requires permission.
 
In 5 years and 330 issues I have:
    a Invoked rule (1) once.  Issue 324.
    b Invoked rule (2) & (4) once.  Back in March.  (Karl)
    c Got caught by same posting that violated (2) and (4) getting
      through because the list was on autopilot.  (Karl)
    d Rule (3) has never been invoked (I thought I was going to get
      a flood at one point, but it never materialized).
    e Never summarily unsubscribed anybody or refused a subscription.
    f Never refused permission for gatewaying (there are, I believe,
      three gateways in total)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0331]