luj.fr
steeringcommittee·January 30, 2026·3 min read

(Updated) Proposal to rebuild the moderation team

This contains a rework of my initial proposal to rebuild the moderation team, informed by the comments and remarks of the other members of the Steering Committee.

The proposal keeps the same spirit/idea, that is put all the stakeholders of moderation in the same room to discuss/collaborate on/negotiate on how moderation should be done for the community in the future. The goal was also to strike a balance between the power the bootstrap team has on the SC and reciprocally, in such a way that there is a clear incentive for everyone to discuss and seek compromise with the other party.

Here is the text of the proposal, that was approved by the Steering Committee on December 8th 2025 (5 votes for, 1 against):

In order to restore trust between the stakeholders of the moderation in the NixOS community, we enter in an interim period lasting until the end of April 2026. The broad objectives of this interim period are to:

  • build a new community team

  • reach a mutual agreement on the moderation philosophy and the overall direction of the NixOS community

  • (if possible) heal conflicts between SC and Moderation

The actors of this interim phases will be:

  • The SC

  • A team of voluntary Alumni moderators (drafted from the team that resigned and from earlier teams) called the bootstrap team

  • If needs be, a mediator

The roles of the actors will be:

  • For the bootstrap team, to perform the day to day business of moderation

  • For the bootstrap team, to source appropriate candidates to join the new community team

  • For the SC, to approve the final team proposed by the alumni moderators

  • For the SC + bootstrap team, to reach an agreement on a moderation philosophy for the NixOS community.

  • For the SC + bootstrap team, to reach an agreement on future relations between SC and community team, such as oversight mechanisms.

  • If needed, for the mediator to help bootstrap team + SC to reach agreement on both points above.

Additionally:

  • The SC does not intervene directly into the sourcing of candidates for the permanent team, but it may impose constraints on the composition of the final team, such as geographic representativity for example.

  • The SC is not to intervene into day to day business of moderation, even during the interim period

  • All stakeholders agree to do their best to allow the community to have a permanent moderation before the end of April 2026

  • Both SC and bootstrap team may unilaterally put an end to the interim period if they estimate that reaching a state of agreement is impossible, putting an end to the moderation duty of the bootstrap team.

The proposal addresses the immediate need for new moderators, and also open the way for a longer process where trust can be rebuilt between all the stakeholders of the moderation, and where meaningful changes can be obtained through collaboration.

Note that the interim period was later extended: the Steering Committee voted on March 4th 2026 to move the deadline from the end of April 2026 to August 15th 2026, to give the bootstrap team more time.