[OSM-talk] Make Messaging public, or other changes?

[SteveC]

Um it sounds like we need a system to report abuse rather than just  
making it public?


On 23 Nov 2008, at 13:21, Frederik Ramm wrote:

> Hi,
>
>     I'd like to ask for a quick show of hands on the idea of making  
> the
> whole built-in OSM messaging system public (not retroactively of  
> course,
> but change it so that anyone can ready any message written in the  
> future).
>
> I am not sure whether this is a good idea myself, that's why I ask.  
> The
> rationale behind this is the following: We suspect that there is  
> quite a
> bit of "new user intimidation" going on here in Germany, where people
> sometimes almost obsessively "protect" their area against changes and
> might, sometimes rather impolitely, challenge newcomers.
>
> Since this is not happening in public, the newcomer has nobody to help
> him, and anyone can basically say anything ("Haven't you read that
> pelican crossings are deprecated?") without someone else noticing.  
> Being
> what he is, the newcomer will of course take everything at face value
> and go down a path of trouble.
>
> If all intra-OSM messaging were public (somewhat like a Wiki "talk"
> page), then even if only few people took the time to actually read  
> other
> people's conversations, it would be easier for the community as a  
> whole
> to get involved and protect its interests against individuals causing
> trouble, and knowing that what oen writes is public, people might also
> exercise some restraint when choosing their words.
>
> Another thing one could to if public messaging does not find favour is
> posting a caveat immediately over the "write message" text area,
> something along the lines of "if you're about to criticize someone  
> whom
> you don't know, think twice and always assume good faith", whatever.
>
> Bye
> Frederik
>
> -- 
> Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09"  
> E008°23'33"
>
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Best

Steve