You are correct on both parts. The access statistics show that (look at the bottom - Logged in vs. Anonymous). Here is a sample from April 3 (I don’t have access to these - I asked a question about that date and was provided with this information).
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Thanks for all the clarifications.
The forums are just that a forum. They are no more a official forum than Facebook groups that committees use.
Anyone can join the forums it’s even standalone from a system as no credentials are shared across the systems.
The block on Walter if you read the agenda item sets the precendent that moderators can block accounts on the forum. This is no different than any other forum.
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I guess that part is out of date. My apologies.
You can’t really say that anymore Robert. We use the forums to post updates like “internet is dead” and “Haas is down” as notices to the membership. We also now use talk as an issue reporting system. It’s much more than a forum. Its the base level communication system we replaced the Google mailing lists with. YOU and I were on the board when we suggested it as a replacement for the mailing list.
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It is different, though.
Talk is a platform for discussing projects, sharing useful information, and sometimes idle chit-chat, hurt feelings, and bullying.
But it is also the preferred channel for official communications and reporting issues.
In my opinion, the “discussion and chit-chat” part should be entirely separate from the “official communication and issue reporting” part.
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My understanding is that this is exactly why the original ticket system was dropped. It felt like a job for those maintaining it, and made DMS feel like a service vs. volunteer run system. https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/10-02-kill-the-ticket-system/12918
A process where someone can be banned from Talk, yet those that banned him don’t have a record regarding the length of the ban, and don’t agree among themselves for how long the ban is place, needs to be replaced with something rational.
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Updates can still be seen by members who are blocked from posting. Issue reporting could possibly be unblocked, depending on the granularity of blocking in Discourse, but abuse of it would just land the perp back in Blockville.
I don’t see a way to do this, not even with group permissions.
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Are “post” and “comment” separate permissions?
There are 3 permissions: see, reply and create. The permissions appear to be additive, I can grant a group one or more of them for a category, but I can’t deny them.
A member made an official complaint to the board regarding a private message sent to that member by Walter through Talk. That’s why the board banned Walter from Talk.
Prior to that, another member made an official complaint to the board that Walter used Talk to make untrue allegations of unethical behavior by that member. That’s when the board ordered that Talk be moderated.
There isn’t sufficient support from the current board of directors to end the block in the foreseeable future. The infrastructure committee fulfilled their duty outlined in the motion. The infrastructure committee and/or moderators can end the block. It’s a committee level thing at this point. Like Robert said, the option for blocking needed to be put on the table as a precedent.
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It’s how I understand the motion. IANAL, I’m not the entire board, yada yada.
I am not the Infrastructure Chair yet.
After the new BoD is in place, and assuming I’m installed by that new BoD, I will ask for direction from the new BoD and make a decision at that time. Until then, I am just a member of DMS, and just a member of the Infrastructure Committee. I am not even a moderator, I have no official powers to do anything regarding Walter’s status on Talk.
Edit to add: https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors_Meeting_20170415#Rescind_Walter_Anderson.27s_Talk_ban_.28Erik_Smith_on_behalf_of_Ken_Purcell.29
There is a special BoD meeting scheduled to cover this situation. It may be a moot point for me soon.
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Is this special BoD session open or closed to the membership?