I just want to say I support the decision either way.  I wasn't really 
following the discussion that spawned this, and so managed to miss the 
start of the situation...and I'm always amazed at how quickly some mailing 
lists delve into chaos.

I've never minded Carl's moderation, and in fact, and am glad when I am on 
lists have moderators who are willing to put forth their own opinions, no 
matter how strong or unpopular.  As long as the moderator keeps the list 
from having technical difficulties (or solving them when it does), and 
keeps disruptive people from harrassing others, and makes an effort to keep 
things to whatever charter it was created (and still operates) under, then 
it matters not to me who moderates it.

While the gmast has its share of tempers, it is much less problematic than 
many lists I've been on.  I was on a list for a game system that was hosted 
at a university.  The list was low traffic, but had a long and loyal 
following.  The list had not had a moderator for something like five years, 
nor anyone responsible for it.  It had problems, where people would get 
unsubbed at random.  It had problems where people couldn't, no matter what, 
get unsubbed.  Every time there was a problem, people panickly begged the 
person who'd been on the wrong end of the snafu to not report it to the 
university sysadmin, in fear that if they discovered the list lying around 
with no one to claim it, it would be deleted.  There was occasionally talk 
of starting a new list elsewhere, but nothing was agreed upon.

Then, one time it happened again.  Someone bopped over to egroups and set 
up another list, and came back and said "look what I did! now we won't have 
to worry."  The outrage was unbelievable.  They didn't want a list with ads 
at the bottom.  They didn't want someone to have taken charge without 
permission like that.  They didn't want to deal with some unknown 
company.  Throughout this argument, the list had its normal shares of 
problems, becoming even more flaky.

The result?  We ended up with two lists, the original and hte new.  Half 
the folks were subscribed to both, another quarter to one or the other.  So 
now, instead of wondering if the lull in messages would be that you'd been 
unsubbed or just a lull (which always led to:  "am I subbed?" questions and 
the invariable "yes, you are" responses), you also got dupes of most of the 
posts...and most of the conversations, being cross-posted, got fractured 
more quickly than otherwise would have been.  In disgust, I finally quit both.

Why'd I bother saying all that?  Because I've been on at least one other 
list Carl has run (fudge), and in neither case were we ever abandoned by 
our moderator.  If there was a problem, he told us how and why and when it 
would be fixed, if it hadn't already.

Have we had our dust-ups here?  Sure.  But I won't blame Carl or Karen if 
they refuse to be polite in the face of rude individuals.  I've worked 
customer service, and I know how hard it can be to keep a smile in place 
when dealing with someone whose request for help starts with an obscenity 
or an insult.  And we aren't exactly customers, are we?  I don't recall 
that we pay anything for the service they provide.  I certainly don't agree 
with everything they do, or the way they do it, but I recognize whose ball 
I'm playing with and who can take it home, ending the kickball game.

I support Carl being moderator, and thank him for all he's done.  Of 
course, if the next moderator is also attentive and keeps things running 
smoothly, I'll support them too.

Jennifer

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