[WikiEN-l] No big deal?

Thu Jun 15 22:13:58 UTC 2006

G'day Guy,

> On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:27:33 +0200, "Steve Bennett"
> <stevagewp at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>The questions from the peanut
>>gallery are less good.
> 
> Best one I've seen: do you see the role of administrator as that of
> policeman or janitor.  Made me think, anyway.

Too vulnerable to the "faking through a job interview" style of 
answering.  Anyone who does a modicum of research before accepting their 
RfA (that is to say, looking at other RfAs) will know how strong the 
"janitor" metaphor is.  Unless the "policeman" metaphor becomes more 
acceptable to the community --- and I hope it won't --- then, knowing 
the mindset of many who hang out at RfA, this is a very simple pass/fail 
question.  Admittedly, the "oh, policeman, obviously" is something that 
might trap a clueless CVU newbie or two, so we can weed them out before 
they do any damage after passing on their vandal-biting contribution alone.

I'd like to see more creative answers.  Like: "admins are neither 
policemen nor janitors; we're volunteer firemen from the SES.  We clean 
up messes, protect fellow community members from fires, and if necessary 
have the power to confiscate matches from particularly nasty firebugs."

-- 
Mark Gallagher
"What?  I can't hear you, I've got a banana on my head!"
- Danger Mouse