Text 2732, 117 rader
Skriven 2007-06-11 08:43:00 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
   Kommentar till text 2686 av Ross Cassell (1:123/456)
Ärende: This Echo
=================
Hello Ross!

On Sunday June 10 2007 10:34, you wrote to me:

 MV>> I am well aware of that. But we also know that there is more to
 MV>> the "smooth operation of the network" than just following policy.
 MV>> There is also tradition, local circumstances, and above all,
 MV>> living up to one's own promises.

 RC> If the network is functioning as it is, he isnt necessarily hindering
 RC> its smooth operation.

We already have one sysop who announced he would leave if Ward does not step
down. Sysops leaving because of the ZC breaking promises is not exactly 'smooth
operation' is it?

 MV>> In hindsight I can not believe I did not notice I have been
 MV>> waering blinders for so long. Indeed, this is not the first time
 MV>> Ward has acted in a dictatorial way. Not by far. I can see that
 MV>> now. That probably is the problem with blinders, while wearing
 MV>> them, one is seldom aware of their presence.

 RC> We live in a very political world, and Fidonet has its own set of
 RC> politics.

Of which I am well aware. I didn't join yesterday...

 RC> In your case I have no doubt you possess the technical skills, albeit
 RC> truth be known, I doubt your position on policy would differ from
 RC> Wards.

Had there been an election - as promised - it would have been up to the sysops
of R28 to make that judgement, wouldn't it?

 RC> As far as the smooth operation of the network, if the ZC doesnt feel
 RC> he can work with you as a RC, that might be where he is at now?

If that is the excuse, it is an excuse after the fact. Ward and I were getting
along fine. On several occasions he stated I would make a fine RC. I did not
fall from grace *until after* I publicly critised Ward for breaking the trust
by not holding the promised RC election.

 MV>> Yes, I have been wearing blinders for years. :-(

 RC> All of us wera some sort of blinders, some big, some small, some all
 RC> encompassing.

Wise words...

 RC> If I understand what Ward had stated, if you used your secure link
 RC> with him to insert a regional stub with you listed as the RC, before
 RC> he officially accepted you as RC, that was the wrong way to go about
 RC> it, and certainly did not help your case.

If....

Ward is fabricating a crime after the fact to discredit me.

Yes, I submitted an updated region segment. Contrary to what Ward suggests
however, I did not sneak it on him, I send an accompanying note stating the
reason why, and I left the region/0 line intact. It listed Jan vermeulen as RC.

Why did I send an updated segment? Because nothing was happening, the net 280
segment had not been updated for month and there was a *new node* knocking at
the door. I did not want a repeat of what happened in september 2006 when a new
node had to wait way too long to get listed and lost interest.

Ward did not make a big deal of it at the time. He praised me for taking
initiative and just asked me not to send complete region segments again.  A
request I complied with. A week later he asked me to send net280 segments.

Had he really considered it unacceptable what I did, he should have been
consequent and refused the segment, including the new node. But he did not and
the Friday after, the new node (280/1043) was in the nodelist.

Did I do the right thing? Should I have used a different avenue to get that new
node in the nodelist? With 20/20 handsight maybe. Maybe I should have just send
a net280 segment instead of a complete region segment. Or maybe just the one
line with the new node.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

OTOH, I could have done nothing and washed my hands off it. I was just a leaf
node. It was not my problem that there was no one in charge. It was not my
problem that already one new node was lost because nodelist updates were not
processed was it? So when it looked like it was going to happen again, I could
just have said "not my problem".

Shoulda, coulda, woulda....

Well, I did not sit back and let it happen. I did what every sailor would do
when the captain is out, he sees there is no one on the bridge and the ship is
heading for a cliff. What does he do? He takes the helm and steers it away from
the cliff. First the ship and worry about the formalities later.

That is what I did. I took the helm. Not as captain, as helmsman.

I did what I thought was right at the time. I would gladly have the syops in
the region judge me in the election that should have followed.

 RC> I can tell you that arguing with Ward in a back and forth, did not -
 RC> did to, fashion isnt going to win your case for you.

Go back in this subthread and see who started it. It wasn't me...

 RC> Your region is going to have to collectively come to your side and
 RC> convince him that you are a better alternative than whom you have now.

You know as well as I do that it is as good as impossible to get any group of
sysops to act as a collective. And even if I could, Ward isn't going to listen
and admit he made a mistake. He never does.


Cheers, Michiel

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