From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

This is a formal Moderator Vacancy Investigation (MVI), begun because
the moderated newsgroup comp.lang.asm.x86 is not functioning,
and may have been abandoned by its moderator. This investigation will
attempt to verify the reasons for non-function, and may result in the
removal of the group or the selection and installation of a new
moderator. In practice, the Big-8 Management Board considers the third alternative--changing the status of the group from moderated to
unmoderated--as likely to cause more harm than good.

The Big-8 Management Board has been contacted by Robert AH Prins <robert(a)prino(d)org>, who has informed us that the moderator of comp.lang.asm.x86, Frank B. Kotler, recently passed away and that a new moderator would be needed.

Followups to this post have been set to news.groups.proposals, to ensure
that any resulting discussion can be followed in one place.


RATIONALE:

No new messages have appeared in comp.lang.asm.x86 since the end of
March 2024, despite light but frequent activity before that point.

The Board was recently contacted by Robert AH Prins, bringing our
attention to a recent thread in alt.lang.asm (see Message-ID: <valg59$34glp$1@dont-email.me>). It unfortunately appears that the
moderator of comp.lang.asm.x86, Frank B. Kotler, died in May of this
year:

https://www.brewittfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Frank-B-Kotler?obId=
31619052

This is deeply sad news, and we are grateful to Mr. Kotler for
generously volunteering his time and expertise as a group moderator. He
will surely be deeply missed, and we send our condolences to everyone
who knew him.

With this in mind, it seems to be established that a vacancy exists and
that a new moderator could be appointed.


VOLUNTEERS:

While investigating the situation, the Board contacted Terje Mathisen,
whose personal domain tmsw.no hosts the mailbox for submissions to comp.lang.asm.x86. As a result of this contact, Mr. Mathisen volunteered
to take over the role of moderator.

Mr. Mathisen would seem to be particularly well placed to moderate the newsgroup, as:

* He already administers the submissions mailbox.
* He is already a contributor to the group.
* He has the technical skills to take on the role of moderator.

Therefore, the Board proposes that Mr. Mathisen take over moderation of comp.lang.asm.x86, unless any compelling reason arises to do otherwise.

The Board notes that Mr. Prins has also expressed an interest in
moderating the group if it can be done as part of a team, in Message-ID: <vbcq64$e50t$1@dont-email.me>. Mr. Prins also has technical experience
and a history of contributing to the group. We encourage the prospective moderators to work together to form a moderation team if possible, as
this is a far more resilient solution than having a single moderator.


NEWSGROUPS LINE:

comp.lang.asm.x86 Bulletin Board and Q&A for x86 assembly language
topics.
(Moderated)


HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

comp.lang.asm.x86 was proposed by Michael J. Averbuch <mikeaver@firefly.prairienet.org> in July 1994.

comp.lang.asm.x86 passed its vote 253:18 on 21 September 1994.

A proposal to convert comp.lang.asm.x86 to a moderated group was put
forward in May 1997, due to the group becoming overwhelmed with flames
and off-topic posts.

The proposal to convert comp.lang.asm.x86 to moderated passed its vote
198:19 on 01 Aug 1997.


CHARTER:

[From http://www.faqs.org/faqs/assembly-language/x86/general/part1/]

The moderated newsgroup comp.lang.asm.x86 will be open to discussions on
all topics related to assembly language and low-level programming on any machine using a x86 processor or its clones. Appropriate topics would
include, but not be limited to:

Assembly language code tips, tricks, and techniques.
MASM, TASM, and other commercial assemblers
NASM, and other non-commercial assemblers
Graphics, sound, and other hardware programming
Assembly language related utilities commercial/share/free-ware
Linking assembly language with other languages
Inline x86 programming utilizing assembly emulators in higher level
languages
Propagation of non-commercial Internet x86 resources
Any question/discussion of the direct programming of the x86
Etc...

Topics that will be filtered are:

Flames about "{Language X} is {better/worse} than ASM"
Flames like "{Assembler 1} is {better/worse} than {Assembler 2}"
Flames, personal attacks, insults, etc.
HLL code, except when used for low-level hardware programming.
Product comparisons except when presented in an unbiased fashion. Advertisements unrelated to assembly programming or utilities.
Posts in languages other than English will be examined for approval
if any of the moderators can read the language in question. There
is no guarantee of approval for a post in any language other than
English.


DISTRIBUTION:

news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
comp.lang.asm.x86
alt.lang.asm


PROPONENT:

Robert AH Prins <robert(a)prino(d)org>


PROCEDURE:

Those who wish to comment on this moderator vacancy investigation should subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the relevant
threads in that newsgroup.

To this end, the followup header of this MVI has been set to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the MVI process, please see

http://www.big-8.org/wiki/Moderator_Vacancy_Investigations


CHANGE HISTORY:

12 September 2024: Moderator Vacancy Investigation
--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

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From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

On Fri, 13 Sep 2024 10:32:58 EDT
Big-8 Management Board <board@big-8.org> wrote:

This is a formal Moderator Vacancy Investigation (MVI), begun because
the moderated newsgroup comp.lang.asm.x86 is not functioning,

[]

The Big-8 Management Board has been contacted by Robert AH Prins <robert(a)prino(d)org>, who has informed us that the moderator of comp.lang.asm.x86, Frank B. Kotler, recently passed away and that a new moderator would be needed.

Followups to this post have been set to news.groups.proposals, to ensure
that any resulting discussion can be followed in one place.

[]

This is deeply sad news, and we are grateful to Mr. Kotler for
generously volunteering his time and expertise as a group moderator. He
will surely be deeply missed, and we send our condolences to everyone
who knew him.

Indeed.

With this in mind, it seems to be established that a vacancy exists and
that a new moderator could be appointed.

VOLUNTEERS:

Mr. Mathisen

The Board notes that Mr. Prins has also expressed an interest in

[]

A proposal to convert comp.lang.asm.x86 to a moderated group was put
forward in May 1997, due to the group becoming overwhelmed with flames
and off-topic posts.

[]

Whoever the flamers were are long gone; so I'm relaxed about posting
to ala, or to an unmoderated clax, or letting either or both of the
above people moderate it. So no actual input to the decision.
--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.
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From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> writes:

On Fri, 13 Sep 2024 10:32:58 EDT
Big-8 Management Board <board@big-8.org> wrote:

Mr. Mathisen

If anything needs a vote, this suggestion has mine.

The Board notes that Mr. Prins has also expressed an interest in

MeToo, with the same caveats - in particular I'm pretty low-tech.

A proposal to convert comp.lang.asm.x86 to a moderated group was put
forward in May 1997, due to the group becoming overwhelmed with flames
and off-topic posts.

[]

Whoever the flamers were are long gone; so I'm relaxed about posting
to ala, or to an unmoderated clax, or letting either or both of the
above people moderate it. So no actual input to the decision.

Indeed. The much was cross-posted flames, mostly from what might
be called the lunatic fringe of the assembly world in the direction
of comp.lang.c, because of those damned C pushers who will stop at
nothing to defend their sick religion, or something like that.

Whatever's simplest and most convenient for the current active
posters and not to the exclusion of new posters is the outcome
I favour most.

Phil
--
We are no longer hunters and nomads. No longer awed and frightened, as we have gained some understanding of the world in which we live. As such, we can cast aside childish remnants from the dawn of our civilization.
-- NotSanguine on SoylentNews, after Eugen Weber in /The Western Tradition/
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

I have posted two replies to news.groups.proposals to the thread with
the same Subject as this one. One post was some months ago, the other
about an hour ago.

Neither have appeared, yet I can post to other newsgroups, and neither
reply was of a kind that I would think would be rejected by moderation
and I think I've posted here before so I am not sure why no message has appeared.

I am trying this from a different provider. The point is, can comp.lang.asm.x86 be restarted - either moderated or unmoderated?
--
James Harris


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

On 03/10/2024 16:51, Phil Carmody wrote:

"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> writes:

On Fri, 13 Sep 2024 10:32:58 EDT
Big-8 Management Board <board@big-8.org> wrote:

I sent a reply to the original Big8 message some time ago but it doesn't
show. The essence was sadness over the loss of Frank and agreement with
the proposal of Terje, if he would be willing to take on the role.

AFAIR moderation of clax86 had been semi-automated in that the moderator needed to add new posters to a whitelist (and, presumably, remove them
when required).

Mr. Mathisen

If anything needs a vote, this suggestion has mine.

Likewise. If Terje Mathisen is willing to do the job then I would back
him fully.

..

Whatever's simplest and most convenient for the current active
posters and not to the exclusion of new posters is the outcome
I favour most.

Ditto. As far as I am concerned clax86 can be moderated if someone is
willing to take on the role or, alternatively, could be made unmoderated.

Either would be better than the current situation where the group has apparently become unused (and, perhaps, unusable).




To the Big8 board, is this investigation still ongoing and, if so, can
you say what would be required to resolve it?




(Hoping this message gets though....)
--
James Harris


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

Greetings.

On 2025-03-28 10:42, James Harris wrote:

I have posted two replies to news.groups.proposals to the thread with
the same Subject as this one. One post was some months ago, the other
about an hour ago.

We didn't seem to receive your submission from several months ago, but
the one you sent an hour previously to this one was approved. Keep in
mind that moderation on news.groups.proposals (as in many other
moderated groups) is done by hand, so it can be several hours before a moderator is able to approve your posts.

Regards,
Tristan
--
Usenet Big-8 Management Board
https://www.big-8.org/
board@big-8.org

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

In article <vs6bgp$2t52c$1@dont-email.me>, james.harris.1@gmail.com
says...

To the Big8 board, is this investigation still ongoing and, if so, can
you say what would be required to resolve it?

Thanks for checking in. The Board has been in contact with Terje
Mathisen and two prospective volunteer moderators.

Our current understanding that Terje is happy to keep hosting the
submission mailbox for c.l.a.x, but is too busy at the moment to deal
with the day-to-day moderation duties.

A couple of posters in alt.lang.asm expressed interest in assisting with moderation, but the Board's last two email messages to them have not
received a reply.

So to resolve the situation, what we need is someone who can take the submissions to the group and submit them to a news server as approved articles. This requires someone with:

1. A news provider that will give them permission to post articles with
approval headers.
2. A way to take emailed submissions and post them to a news server.

Software exists for (2) but is a bit old and clunky. However, the Board
can advise on setting things up.

If you or anyone else is interested in moderating the group, please
email us and we'll get things moving.

Kind regards,
Rayner

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From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

On 11/04/2025 19:13, Big-8 Management Board wrote:

So to resolve the situation, what we need is someone who can take the submissions to the group and submit them to a news server as approved articles. This requires someone with:

1. A news provider that will give them permission to post articles with
approval headers.
2. A way to take emailed submissions and post them to a news server.

Hi, if you have the moderator's I can offer hosting on my server, that's
not a big deal. I'm busy too, but I can create an account, and you can
setup everything (and if need use the server instead to submission too,
like m.t.m)



Sincerely
--
Ivo Gandolfo

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: news.groups.proposals

In article <vtbmqo$884o$1@paganini.bofh.team>, usenet@bofh.team says...

On 11/04/2025 19:13, Big-8 Management Board wrote:

So to resolve the situation, what we need is someone who can take the submissions to the group and submit them to a news server as approved articles. This requires someone with:

1. A news provider that will give them permission to post articles with
approval headers.
2. A way to take emailed submissions and post them to a news server.

Hi, if you have the moderator's I can offer hosting on my server, that's
not a big deal. I'm busy too, but I can create an account, and you can
setup everything (and if need use the server instead to submission too,
like m.t.m)

Hi Ivo,

Thank you for your offer of help! I will email you and copy in the
current set of volunteers.

Kind regards,
Rayner

--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2