Requests for Stewardship

Void's Request for Stewardship
User: Void ( contributions &bull; CA &bull; blocks log &bull; rights log &bull; global rights log )

Reasoning for request
I'm requesting steward as a way to help out the community in a larger scale than I am currently able. My primary interest/area of expertise is in the general administration/management of wikis (which is rather impossible without some sort of global permission).

On meta, I currently am a wikicreator, and have created more than a dozen wikis. On [//publictestwiki.com our testwiki], I am the only user with the [//publictestwiki.com/wiki/TestWiki:Consuls consul] permission ("highest" local permission) that is not a sysadmin. There I have worked with abuse filters and permission management. I also seem to be NDKilla's go to guy for cleanup there :).

On other (non-WMF) wikis, I have held/currently hold checkuser, oversight, and rename. I am familiar with all of the MediaWiki interface, and have mastered most things. However, of which I may not be familiar with, I am confident in my ability to quickly master. Even so, I can easily recognise when I am out of my depth, and am not afraid to contact the other stewards with questions (and I promise I won't nag).

Questions for candidate
Additional question from Amanda: I'm kinda hesitant to support this, mainly because I believe SPF and others have said that Miraheze doesn't currently need new Stewards. Also, I believe that Stewards are expected to help out with technical stuff in addition to the housekeeping work. Can you show your ability to send PR's to GitHub and have 90%-95% of them approved? Amanda (talk) 13:32, 20 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Stewards are not expected to help out at all and if they do, being a steward means nothing :). Stewards are here as a community-only role and 0% technical experience or knowledge is really needed. John (talk) 13:40, 20 December 2016 (UTC)
 * So if no knowledge is needed, does that mean that in theory, any Miraheze user in good standing could apply for Stewardship? Amanda (talk) 13:45, 20 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Well, yes. As long as the requirements for appointment are met. Any successful request under those conditions will be appointed. Similarly stewards will remain in the position until they're inactive or the requirements for revocation are met. John (talk) 13:50, 20 December 2016 (UTC)


 * Well, I have two accepted requests on mw-config, and one bug fix on CreateWiki. It's not all that much, but I've only become semi-active on phab in the last few weeks. -- Void  Whispers 22:41, 20 December 2016 (UTC)
 * like John said there is NO REQUIREMENT for stewards to contribute at all in technical ways. On the contrary, one of the biggest reasons I'm going to support this is because there is a distinction between stewards and sysadmins. Although I think the current stewards do a great job, and I'm not sure we need another, I do want a steward that isn't a system administrator, and I believe Void is the best candidate (and not just because (s)he's the only one requesting it right now). -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 02:40, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

Comments by other users
I think makes an interesting and very worthy point regarding having a steward that is not a system administrator. With the recent database incident that took a few days and a great deal of effort to get things running smoothly again, it would be helpful to have someone that doesn't necessarily deal with those situations but is able to help out in a steward role dealing with other issues. Obviously, the database incident was an extreme case and I use that only as an example but having a steward available to deal with other requests would ease the pressure on the current stewards, who, in more extreme cases, would be dealing exclusively with other issues. Borderman  talk 12:02, 21 December 2016 (UTC)

Support
Well, if Stewards need no technical experience, and there is no prerequisite restriction on who can be nominated, then in theory everyone could be Stewards, and we would all do our part to help run Miraheze together - instead of 3 to 6 people doing all the work. Like that'll ever happen. Amanda (talk) 20:18, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Wow. The logic is so bad here that I can't even begin.  So I guess I won't.  The above comment is wrong is every way.  Labster (talk) 20:39, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Notice that I did say "In theory" and "Like that'll ever happen". Both of these imply that the logic/point above would be the ideal situation, but that the chances of it actually happening are next to zero. Amanda (talk) 21:05, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Like said above, there is no requirement for Stewards to do any 'technical' work. On the contrary, when the database server crashed last night and restarted, I totally forgot to create any status updates or notices on facebook etc. Outreach and notifying users of service issues could definitely be part of what Stewards do, as opposed to sysadmins directly. Also, Void is the only non-system administrator that is a Consul on the test wiki, so he is one of three users with the ability to remove bureaucrat from another user on that wiki. Long story short, I think that Void is like the best candidate that isn't a purely technical person. Although me, SPF, and John (the three Stewards) do handle Steward requests in a timely manner for the most part, I think all of us have (some) issues communicating and handling other community issues. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 15:53, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

Because I don't know users in the Miraheze and other wiki-based communities I thought I wouldn't really have a worthy opinion here because I have no grounds for backing any claims of approval. However, that said, I did quickly check Void's wiki background and, in particular, the extensive Wikipedia activity that is clearly evident there (this was purely to educate myself of any potential abilities). It seems to me that someone who spends a substantial amount of time and commitment to a series of on-going projects in preventing unconstructive and/or potentially damaging contributions could perchance be seen as an asset to Miraheze's community. In addition, the recent spate of creating wikis shows a keenness to help out and, given half a chance, fulfil a role with broader scope and challenges. I definitely agree with NDKilla's point above regarding a candidate that isn't mainly a technical person. Borderman  talk 23:00, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

Oppose
Sorry Void, but I feel that we already have enough stewards (3). Everything is already handled fast and well. MacFan4000 (talk) 14:36, 20 December 2016 (UTC)
 * How many active wikis does it take before a fourth steward can be appointed? It seems pointless to me to have a Request for Stewardship page if, at least for the unforeseeable future, every request is going to be opposed because we already have enough stewards. The current stewards do an amazing job already but I believe more stewards (maybe one or two) would be useful, especially if there are serious technical issues that the other stewards/system administrators would be dealing with. Borderman   talk 18:51, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * I also agree with Borderman and am curious as to your response. Also, not to be dismissive as everyone, even anonymous users, can support/oppose these requests with reasoning, I think you've made it clear you want notthing to do with this community so why should we let you decide the future of the community? -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 15:59, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

sorry for my abrupt return to Miraheze, but I saw this and thought: Wait... didn't I request this months back and get declined for the exact reason of "More stewards aren't needed at this time?" I'm starting to think there's an issue here. Likewise, this is nothing against you personally, but if I'm to be declined stewardship when it was not needed just as much as it was now, I can't really justify a reason to support this.. so this is more of a "There's absolutely no need for a new steward at this time, especially if I had the same reasoning back then, and got declined for the exact same position with little to no influx of activity." Sammy (talk) 01:18, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * I can't for the life of me understand why you would oppose this request just because your request was denied. That way of thinking seems a little redundant but I do understand your frustration, especially if you can contribute to the community. However, it shouldn't mean someone else can't be granted stewardship just because you didn't. Miraheze is constantly changing and I have noticed over the last few days Void has been busy creating lots of wikis! We all know it's more than just about creating wikis. Yes, the stewards' role and responsibilities are important and request should not be taken lightly. I would be interested to see how the current stewards cast their options. Borderman   talk 18:51, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Per above comment on MacFan's comment, I find it rather amusing that you more or less come back just to oppose this request. Why should users who leave here because they don't get Stewardship or sysadmin rights be allowed to decide the future of the rest of the community? -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 15:59, 24 December 2016 (UTC)

I think. We enough three steward and I can't see you at phab or github anytime. Sorry H1 (talk) 03:58, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Untrue. Void is right here on Phabricator. Amanda (talk) 14:57, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
 * I don't think Amanda has sock for Void ? o_O H1 (talk) 11:49, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Not sure what you are trying to say here.... That is my phabricator account, and the only accounts I have on wiki are this one (User:Void) and User:Void-test. -- Void  Whispers 15:53, 24 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Extensive CheckUsers were performed on User:DeltaQuad (Amanda) and all related accounts. I assure you that User:Void is not a sockpuppet of any of the other accounts. Additionally I find this a rediculous accusation since you yourself edit from an open proxy used by other globally banned/blocked/locked users. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 15:59, 24 December 2016 (UTC)