> To be honest, I don't think it's that necessary to "sort" this.  If a
> community is dying then the more proactive members will set up a new one
> and people will follow them across.  Sure, it might be handy to be able
> to take over and "rescue" a community, but it's not the end of the world
> if it doesn't work out that way.
>
> Taking a community out of the hands of a maintainer within a week (which
> seems to be what some people want) seems draconian and punitive.  If the
> maintainer of your community doesn't look after it well then the answer
> isn't to take it from them, but to form your own.
>
> Andy

You seem to be assuming that a community is dying if the maintainer isn't
paying attention to it.  But I could name communities that have gone on
vibrantly and strong for *years* after the original maintainer disappears
into cyberspace.  If the first maintainer disappears without leaving a
successor, and the community is going strong, eventually something's going
to happen that needs maintainer powers.  Troll, change in community
policy/settings to better fit current usage/DW features, and many more. 
If it's a relatively self-sustaining community and the maintainer just
kind of fades away, it's not uncommon for nobody to notice the
maintainer's not around any more until they need someone with maintainer
powers and find out that there *isn't* one., or at least not one anybody
can find.

Now, for normal things like changing the community's settings, you're
right that a week from figuring out they can't get ahold of the maintainer
to the time DW does something about it is way, way too fast.  But if the
com's been hacked or picked up a particularly nasty troll, a lot of damage
can be done in a week.

Beatrice Otter
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