I haven't seen the behavior of Kevin in particular, but perhaps we
should as a group reach some kind of consensus about what we currently
define as being the line between being a good channel moderator, and
abusing one's op priveleges.
In the past, some of the following have been considered grounds for
kicking a person out of a channel:
1) Direct threats.
This is pretty much a given. If someone says "I'm gonna kill
you, you computer asshole geek!". Then I think most people would agree
this is grounds for kicking and banning.
2) Channel flooding.
It happens, and it's really annoying and disruptive to the
continutity of the channel. Again, common sense seems to say that
this is abusive and immature behavior.
3) Continuous Harrassment of People
I differentiate this from a one time insult. Continuous
harrassment is when someone decides to really insult and abuse one user
or all users on a channel. Obviously if the case is that (s)he is
abusing all users on the channel, then a kick and ban seems mandatory.
If the person is abusing only one person publicly, then a kick and ban
seems mandatory. If the person is abusing only one person via private
messages, then I think a /ignore is probably much more appropriate.
4) Continuous Harrassment of the channel concept
This is the person who logs in and (in our case) does nothing
but insult macintosh computers. I have noticed that some channel
operators use this as an excuse to kick the individual. Now here is an
area of contention. I would argue that unless the person is being
mindlessly abusive, that the person probably has a right to voice an
alternative opinion. By mindlessly abusive I mean that the person does
not respond intelligently to arguments and does not respond to people
in the channel. This is probably a topic we as a group should reach
some kind of consensus on.
5) One Time Insults
This is probably going to be another point of contention. If
one person says one critical or abusive remark to someone, is this
really a grounds for kicking? My personal opinion is that it is
grounds for a warning via a private message. As a moderator of a
channel, I think we can be grown up enough and self confident enough to
react in a more mature fashion. A kick in this case seems to be a
reactionary and power abusive move.
6) A request to kick someone
Sometimes someone in the channel will ask that another person
be kicked from the channel. Sometimes these requests are probably
legitimate, and sometimes not. This kind of request can probably only
be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Anyway,
This is my 2c worth...
-Dave
========
David Meleedy Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
dmm@head-cfa.harvard.edu 60 Garden Street, MS 70
Phone: 617 495 7252 Cambridge, MA 02138 USA