[svlug] Picnic volunteers

[Rick Moen]

I wrote:

> Thank you, Anne.  I've inquired with the three mailing list admins, 
> pointing out that I've always carefully followed the posted rules[1] on
> both the main linuxpicnic and announce mailing lists, and asking for 
> an explanation.  (My address was apparently silently removed and banned
> from _both_ mailing lists, at some point in the recent past.)
> 
> [1] http://www.linuxpicnic.org/twiki/bin/view/Volunteers/MailListEtiquette


After two e-mails, one to the suggested list-admin at linuxpicnic.org
contact address, and a second follow-up to the admins' direct e-mail
mailbox, Heather's eventual e-mailed explanation about why I was
summarily removed and banned without notice from _both_ the linuxpicnic
and announce mailing list was that I mentioned not intending to be a
picnic volunteer this year, and therefore she figured I'd "probably be
either bored or annoyed" by seeing further mailing list traffic, and for
that reason she had removed and banned me without notice to spare me
from being "annoyed" because, she says, "I'm not interested in annoying
my friends."

I asked whether _all_ subscribers who aren't picnic volunteers get
summarily removed and banned, preventing them from seeing new postings
_and_ from visiting the back-postings archives, of both the discussion
list and the ultra-low-traffic announce list -- or just me.

A half-hour later, Heather telephoned me and reiterated her
doesn't-make-sense-to-me explanation about "helping" me avoid being
"bored and annoyed".  I repeated that I was confused by this.  She also
said the banning part was "accidental".  I said this confused me, too.
Anyway, after being assured that I wasn't worried about being "bored and
annoyed", she said she'd undo the removal and the "accidental" ban.

A few minutes later, she called back a second time and said she'd taken 
the removal and banning action "to make a lot of people happy", and
would not "find time" to take corrective action until quite a few days
from now.

I called her attention to the fact that her justifications were
nonsensical and transparent.  She declined to comment on the fact that 
I'd not violated any of the posted mailing list rules and that
apparently people get banned for violating unwritten ones.  She said she
guessed I'd "hate" her, and hung up.

So, there ya go.