Administrator's and Moderators

[eyebrowman92]

Out of curiosity, how do you become an administrator or a moderator, or part of a team like the desktop team or team bahamut or something like that?

[matthew]

1) Pay for and set up your own forums :):)
or
2) Make such consistently helpful contributions to the existing forum community that you are invited

[eyebrowman92]

how would i pay for and set up my own forums?

[eyebrowman92]

ohhhhhh nevermind forget that. you mean start ubuntu forums on another site, a site i create. ok gotcha.:)

[az]

I think the teams idea is to involve a number of people and give them a sense of ownership in the forums. That is a good thing. The problem is it is done in private and that has the effect of alienating users who are not in the know.

Simply anouncing when someone becomes part of a team what it is all about would increase the sense of accomplishment and decrease the alienation.

A nice entry in the forum FAQ would be nice, too.

[eyebrowman92]

ok theyre done in private but i dont understand what the teams really are for. is it possible for the average joe to make his own team?

[23meg]

No, if you contribute to the forums enough to be noticed, you get called into the team in which you'll put your skills to best use.

[eyebrowman92]

oh ok. i get it. how many teams are there and what does your do?

[23meg]

Currently we have 7 teams: Desktop, Hardware, Gamer, Tweaker, Green, Kubuntu, and Bahamut. The tweaker team creates customization guides, provides support for them, indexes and migrates past guides when needed.

[eyebrowman92]

alright cool. and what do the other teams do? do you know?

[mlomker]

Team members cover the forum sections in their names. They try to minimize unanswered questions, create how-to's, and add documentation to the wiki's, etc. We just had the first formal meeting on the team concept this evening...it's a work in progress.

I'm head of the Kubuntu team. I look for people that are friendly, follow the forum rules, and do a good job answering questions about KDE. Azz is correct that it is subjective in the sense that I get to pick team members that I think I can work well with...it's not an elected position.

If you help as many people as you can and invest time in the forums then you will be noticed. You can see the current team list by clicking on the About tab at the top of the page or click here. (http://ubuntuforums.org/showgroups.php)

[23meg]

alright cool. and what do the other teams do? do you know?

You'll get the official word on this from the forum staff shortly.

[eyebrowman92]

alright. thanks everyone who posted on this forum. :)

[ubuntu-geek]

Yes, look for some cool new changes allowing people to join a team and howto become a staff member in the next few weeks... This will be updated on the about page when complete.

[Kyral]

Am I reading too much into this or are you gonna be looking for new Mods soon?

[mlomker]

Am I reading too much into this or are you gonna be looking for new Mods soon?

Darkmatter and Ampersand came onboard recently. The forum grows quickly and there are only so many hours that people can volunteer, so there will be a ongoing need.

[ubuntu-geek]

Darkmatter and Ampersand came onboard recently. The forum grows quickly and there are only so many hours that people can volunteer, so there will be a ongoing need.
took the works right out of my mouth...

[Kyral]

If you need me I'm game....hell I post here enough...(points to being like 13 on the Posts list) ;P

[darkmatter]

alright cool. and what do the other teams do? do you know?

The teams were created to produce a concerted effort to manage and support the forums, by delegating responsibiliy for support/moderation/etc to individual team leaders...allowing for a greater level of focus on the various aspects of the community

The team names are a good idea... Desktop, Hardware, Gamer, Tweaker, Green, Kubuntu, and Bahamut.

The desktop team gives support primarily to the user on the desktop front...this includes application support, general configuration, etc.

Hardware - lend hardware support to the user.

Gamer - games obviously...including installation

Tweaker...previously described.

Green - Absolute beginners support.

Kubuntu - the Kubuntu branch of Ubuntu...and thus KDE support.

Bahamut - the primary team...the focal point...the organizational body for the other teams.

That's the rough idea...as UG stated, more information will be presented soon enough.

[eyebrowman92]

oh alright do you need to have a lot of posts on these forums to get on a team?

[darkmatter]

It's mostly making a consistent effort to contribute useful information/support...the team leaders are always looking for 'fresh blood'...if you fit the bill, you may be approached with an offer.

[eyebrowman92]

alright thanks.

[az]

There is no Cabal.

[manicka]

There is no Cabal.
?

[eyebrowman92]

There is no Cabal.

what?

[Xian]

?
A Cabal is a secret organization composed of a few designing persons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabal).

[eyebrowman92]

ok that makes sense now. so if there were a "cabal" on this site they would be secret?

[Xian]

It generally implies an ongoing conspiracy which is part of a devious agenda.

[az]

No, it implies a lack of transparency.

It is a Debian thing, really, (most recently in response to the Vancouver prospectus.)

http://healthhacker.org/biella/coleman-chapter-six.pdf

[Xian]

That is another term you could use depending on the context.
Your initial response was somewhat less than transparent. :)

[manicka]

An interesting section at the bottom of that wiki entry

See also

Other negative words that arose from descriptions of religious extremism or religious sects include:

* Zealot
* Thug
* Assassin

[az]

Probably more accurate here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_Cabal

since I am not implying that anyone is an assassin!


That is another term you could use depending on the context.
Your initial response was somewhat less than transparent. :)


You mean post number five of this thread?

[Xian]

since I am not implying that anyone is an assassin!

Give me an assassin anyday over a zealot. :)

You mean post number five of this thread?
No, I breezed in at 23.

[panickedthumb]

Probably more accurate here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_is_no_Cabal

since I am not implying that anyone is an assassin!





You mean post number five of this thread?
so, are you using it to tell people to lighten up or suggest that the cabal will deny the existence of a cabal? ;)

[bored2k]

so, are you using it to tell people to lighten up or suggest that the cabal will deny the existence of a cabal? ;)
O_o !

[az]

so, are you using it to tell people to lighten up or suggest that the cabal will deny the existence of a cabal? ;)
I am getting to be freaking sorry I brought it up!

"The Cabal" is a theme that crops up in the context of Debian community governance. The subtleties of interpersonal relationships often affects the process of decision-making. When something is supposed to be open for discussion by the community at large, and a few people appear to make all the decisions without much regards for due process or simple public discussion, people refer to the small group of decision-makers as "the Cabal".




...remind me next time to nevermind,

[manicka]

Considering the spirited discussion around some of the suggestions on the forum lately, it's hardly surprising that people would question why such a comment is made and desire to know it's true meaning.

Thanks for the explanation :)