[arch-dev-public] Idea: ArchLinux News

[Paul Mattal]

I know we are all inundated with sources of Arch Linux news and have 
tried various blogs and ideas that haven't worked well in the past, 
but I had a new twist on this idea.

What if we set up a CMS allowing anyone to submit articles, and then 
assembled a small group of moderators with community track record 
and good language/editing skills who would triage/read/edit the 
articles/posts? This would create a more meaty way to generate 
interesting thought in the Arch community, and provide a more 
serious "publication" about Arch without extreme amounts of effort. 
If we used software optimized for this (there must be many choices), 
then approving posts and doing minor edits would be little work for 
the moderators.

I'm imagining something like a Slashdot model for post/moderation 
but with more meaty new ideas and news by the poster. Essentially 
this would be a way to get your interesting material read and heard 
by the Arch world, regardless of how long you've been here or what 
positions you may have in the community.

Content guidelines I would suggest:

* should be related to Arch Linux and be of general interest to 
someone interested in Arch and the community
* posts should provide some new information and reflect some new 
thoughts by the writer; these are intended to be "articles" that 
will enrich the community, and we want more than just a link to 
another post or an open-ended discussion-starter question
* should be well-written and require as little editing as possible; 
the closer the submission is to press-ready, the less work the 
moderators will need to do and the more likely your post is to be 
accepted
* submitted posts become openly licensed and are subject to editing 
by the moderators

If such a system could be set up, I'd be willing to moderate 
regularly, and post occasionally.

I could see this also as replacing the "news" on the main page, but 
also enriching it significantly. The nice part is that it would 
provide one single place people can go for their important Arch 
news. Of course, people are always free to look elsewhere-- but we'd 
guarantee a high-quality product with interesting news you'd want to 
read.

What do folks think? Anyone have experience with using a CMS in this 
manner where anyone can create posts and moderators 
edit/approve/post them? Are there refinements of this idea that 
would work better?

- P