rules, terms of use and official policies

I noticed the bindweed thread has joined the great compost heap in the net.
I was about to ask why, as posters had been friendy and respectful, then I saw burra's post re Paul's discomfort with people recommending glyphosate.
The 'glypho/no glypho' seems to be a perennial discussion into which I will not enter!
I know several people have suggested/requested a sort of FAQ or 'Paul Wheaton's take on...' on the forum pages.
Not something I've seen the need for before, but I think giving people some firm guidelines about the forum's particular ethics could be really valuable.
At the moment, people could be put off by not being sure of 'the rules'.
Or an interesting thread disappears because people inadvertently break those unwritten rules.
I'm not usually pro 'rules and regs', but I do think it could make things simpler, especially for new members.

hear hear!

This is something that has been discussed several times here in the tinkering forum.  Basically, rules tend to be unread and then give anger traction to "bad guys" ("you can't do that because the rules say ...").  I much prefer to take the path that I'm crazy and will delete stuff i don't like. 

There is a lot of info in the "be nice" thread about how I go about interpreting what I think "be nice" means.  Other than that, I make it clear that I prefer to avoid politics and religion, favoring a more practical side of homesteading and permaculture.  There is a thread that talks about how i don't want to talk about the third ethic here - because that is usually criminals insisting that I validate their criminal effort in the name of the third ethic, and since I won't do it, then I don't know what permaculture really is.

The most recent thing is that I want to focus conversation well beyond organic.  So if people want to talk about GMO stuff or pesticides, that needs to happen on some other forum.

Most of this stuff can be figured out because we have set a precedent. 

"The most recent thing is that I want to focus conversation well beyond organic."  [Paul]

That's a conversation I'm looking forward to since I don't quite get what makes permaculture different than good organic gardening practices.

I'm clear there are differences, just don't know what they are.

So I'll be reading more than writing.

thanks,
ellen

If we don't already have a thread about that, then we should make one.  I'm pretty sure it was covered in at least one podcast.

To me, "way beyond organic" means, in part, "no kill gardening" which I try to practice, so I often run up against folks who want information about how to kill some insect "pest" or other, and when I talk about how I don't see insects as pests but rather as indicators of me not giving the plants what they need, the wannabe killers get mad.     So I'm trying to learn to avoid the "I want to kill something" threads.   To me, wanting to kill some critters who live in the world and whom I don't need or want to eat doesn't fit into permaculture, which is about fostering life, not curtailing it, in my opinion.  But that's just me.   

In the words of Yogi Berra:

"All of those unwritten rules aint worth the paper they are written on."

Gotta love that guy.

H Ludi Tyler wrote:
To me, "way beyond organic" means, in part, "no kill gardening" which I try to practice, so I often run up against folks who want information about how to kill some insect "pest" or other, and when I talk about how I don't see insects as pests but rather as indicators of me not giving the plants what they need, the wannabe killers get mad.     So I'm trying to learn to avoid the "I want to kill something" threads.   To me, wanting to kill some critters who live in the world and whom I don't need or want to eat doesn't fit into permaculture, which is about fostering life, not curtailing it, in my opinion.  But that's just me.   

To me, "organic" means among other things, "no-kill".
But I'm sure to most people, not necessarily. When I first started gardening I would only use Neem or detergent in water to spray the bugs.
I read that if I did nothing, eventually nature would take care of the situation. So I stopped spraying,  and learned that eventually the ladybugs would arrive to eat the aphids on my salvia.
Now, 10 years on, I rarely have bug problems and no disease. Healthy soil=healthy plants.
But I think permaculture is about more.

Anyway, Ludi, I agree with your no-kill philosophy, no matter what it is called.

I get that keeping permies' 'philosophies', or whatever you wanna call them, a moving target helps to keep everyone on their toes

I understand that there are good reasons for not having written forum "rules and regs".

We at permies.com should followed all of Paul's guidance so that we can maximize our wisdom synergy and minimize our friction! Friction, as we all know, is usually wasted energy...

I was curious what some other forums had and I did a Goggle search "recommended forum ground rules"

Meetup's Worldwide Message boards came up first ==> http://www.meetup.com/boards/thread/10354974

These are provided just as information.

Welcome to Meetup's Worldwide Message boards!

These forums are designed for Members and Organizers to share their wisdom and experiences with one another, report bugs and interact with the worldwide Meetup community.

These forums are moderated by both Volunteer Mods and Meetup HQ. To prevent friction and promote a supportive and friendly environment, we've set some ground rules for posting.

Note: These ground rules are designed to complement Meetup's Terms of Service.

How to Use these Forums

Do share your knowledge of how the site works with each other
Do ask questions (No question is too big or small, but it's recommended to check out our handy FAQ first)
Do use each forum for the purpose intended:

Need Technical Assistance? check out the Help Forum.
Want to keep tabs on what's new with Meetup? Subscribe to updates on our New Features page.
Have a great idea or suggestion for making Meetup better? Go to Meetup's Uservoice to share your support for trending suggestions or add your own.
Are you a super saavy Organizer or want to be one? Check out the Organizer's Forum.

Do search for existing threads on your issue before starting a new thread
The search feature is located here.

How to Interact with Each Other

Do treat each other with respect, encourage one another and celebrate each other's triumphs.
Do not attack fellow members on the forums, including staff.
Do not post specific group information, member names or link to member profiles when reporting abuse. Use anecdotal evidence when discussing an issue or problem you're having, and report abuse to Meetup directly.
Do not hijack threads with off-topic posts. If a Moderator or fellow member suggests starting a new thread to keep the discussion on topic, heed the suggestion.
Do not engage in excessive bumping. Bump once, if necessary. Do not bump excessively to prove a point or call out to fellow members. It's disrespectful, and participation on these forums is voluntary.
Do not resort to profanity, name calling, air personal grievances with fellow members or belittle one another.
Do not post material that is racially or culturally biased
If someone points out that something you've posted offends them in any way, out of respect for the community, it may be removed.
Be respectful of one another. These are public forums. You should approach one another in here the same way you would approach one another in real life. Avoid using general snarkiness as a discussion tool. Be factual, and tolerant of other members' opinions. If your tone is consistently disrespectful and intolerant, you may be suspended from participating in the forums.

How to Interact with Mods and Staff

Moderators are your peers. If a Moderator contacts you directly to ask that you tone down your posts, or adjust your usage of the forums, heed their advice. If you do not heed their advice, you may be suspended from using the forums.
Moderators reserve the right to remove content that violates the ground rules, or our Terms of Service, at their discretion.
Spamming will not be tolerated.
Do not report abuse on the boards, if you see something spammy or abusive, don't respond. Please report it to Meetup HQ directly.
Moderators may edit thread titles for clarity + reserve the right to remove content or suspend profiles from posting that violate these ground rules, or our Terms of Service.

With respect and regards for all,
Monte Hines

When a person registers for the site, they first encounter the "registration agreement terms" which consist of two words:

Be nice.

It looks exactly like this:





And then they get to the part where they are putting in their name



Note the thing about the naming policy, which is just a long winded way of saying "use a real sounding name"



I have to mention it here because I just heard from one of the stewards that somebody said that somebody was asked to change their display name because it did not meet the naming policy. The submitted an acceptable name and added the comment that the staff request was not aligned with the "terms of service".

I didn't know we had or needed a "terms of service". I suppose that that might be what I sometimes call "the list of rules" or the "the legal agreement you have when you sign up for nearly any site." And that is the whole "be nice" thing.

But above that is the idea that I'm the guy that made the site and pays the bills. So really, I get to do any nutty thing I want. I can delete stuff for no reason. I can ban people for no reason. Utter whim. I bet I can find a long series of practical jokes to perform on people just to pass the time.

As it turns out, there are things I wanna do with this site. And there are things that other people want me to do with this site. I wonder which of us will get our way?

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely is kinda neat!