I'm honestly not sure how the situation could have been better handled without being more draconian, or having more moderators to help herd the flock of howling monkeys that constituted the PR1.2 leak thread.

So far as I can tell, things went down as follows:
1) the leak occurred and was posted here,
2) Texrat showed up, pointing out that it's unofficial and therefore potentially bad,
3) bummer showed up, asserting that this was illegal and therefore irresponsible to permit, and that the thread should be removed immediately,
4) Texrat essentially noted that the genie was already out of the bottle, and that he'd rather keep the inevitable firestorm contained rather than make futile attempts to wipe it out,
5) in the meantime, bummer took some significant abuse from other posters who didn't like the idea of somebody suggesting that this be stopped,
6) Reggie eventually showed up and said "we can't be associated with something potentially illegal", cleaned out the links, and closed the thread,
7) bummer posted a "victory thread" restating Reggie's post with some extra "told ya so" thrown in,
8) Texrat opted to resign.

I would think that the two largest issues that need to seriously be addressed are #5 and #7. The rest is, IMO, perfectly acceptable under the circumstances; during the course of the thread the status of the leak was unclear (despite bummer's assertions) and moving prematurely could have caused other problems. What should have been stopped, however, is the childishness and egotism that first caused bummer to be attacked, and then prompted him to attack back in return.

At least, that's what it looks like from the outside here.


(Frankly, as I've posted elsewhere, I'm astonished and appalled that those kind of personal attacks are permitted at all. There's forums I'm part of where #7 above would earn a temporary ban for moderator abuse...)

Word up - don't let the "bad guys" win Tex

Not been here long but always see balanced and good humoured comments from tex.

Good luck either way.

Changed the title to reflect his moderation on PR1.2 Leak thread..

Monsieur Texrat...
We can force you: we can make this thread overwhelming and only a mod could stop it. And I'm sure other mods are busy elsewhere.
Et voilà!

We also have to consider the fact that Texrat had no mod powers in the section with the leak. He did the best he could as far as I'm concerned

@atz... fun idea, but I don't... Today I'm a Tex fanboy (oooucchhhhhhh... it hurts me writing "fanboy" and "I" at same line!) and this is not the place, I think.
I want to be banned by him, but NOT THE DAY I'M FIGHTING AT HIS SIDE!

Dammit I hate drama. Just figures that trying to get out of the spotlight and deflect attention to the actual issue would trigger the Law of Unintended Consequences.

First I really appreciate the thoughts expressed. That was unexpected.

I don't want to look like a "childish quitter" so I'll think about what's been asked. That said, I'm still embarassed at not being a little stricter in that now-infamous thread. I don't have actual moderation duties in that thread so all I could do was talk, and in hindsight part of that should have included:

- strong warnings against filesharing;

- an earlier escalation to other moderators in the hope that one with jurisdiction there could edit threads as needed

If failure to do those things was incompetence, well, mea culpa.

One thing that was driven home for me in the outcome is that we need not simply more moderators but broader time zone coverage. I was only up due to being on call for work... and would have welcomed one or two others online to discuss the issue with in the background.

Anyway it's clear now what's what but I should have worked harder. I apologize to the community for that lapse. If I do stick with moderating it won't happen again.

Thanks all.

Right at your side, buddy!

@texrat

I was kinda shocked when you decided to be a moderator, you wear your passion on your sleave and I wasn't sure how that would translate. But you've been nothing but excellent: Smoothing and Soothing. Your instincts have been good so keep trusting them, and anyone that expects you to be perfect can go f*ck themselves. You're quick to admit your mistakes; not much more can be asked of someone that decides to moderate. We have your back because you have ours.

Hugs and kisses, bro.