But the mod team who resigned were precisely the ones behind moderating those Reddit/Discourse threads though. So I don't think there was animosity between the two teams from the start, but rather that tensions grew over the years until it became unmanageable.
My interpretation is that the drama happening around the core team (like the things you've mentioned) gets increasingly overwhelming for the mod team to handle, leading to complaints against the core team for causing such drama (which they do not have the sufficient resources nor actual power to handle). This further escalates and devolves into a worse relationship between the two, leading to the resignation.
From the thread on /r/rust one of the mods (different from the Rust's mods) talked about the relationship between the Core and the Mod team:
Bans. We do not directly enforce bans, instead we ask Core to enforce them for us, and Core will double-check our work (though without access to the case, unless complainants are OK with that) -- essentially ensuring that we've done our due diligence, given a fair chance to the person, and that we're following the "escalation" procedure.
Bans (bis). Core may enforce bans by themselves, then let us know.
Involvement. When a Core Team Member is involved in a complaint, or a difficult relationship, we play our mediator/arbitrator role, stepping in and attempting to figure out the bottom of the issue and resolve it peacefully -- much like we do with any other Rust Team Member, really.
This is maybe a workable agreement if the Core and the Mod team went along well, but currently it seems like that's not the case. The last clause (Involvement) basically tells that "we really don't want the two teams to fight, and things should be resolved with common sense". Now that this is way out of the window, perhaps it would be a good time for the Rust contributors to reevaluate their team structure.
> But the mod team who resigned were precisely the ones behind moderating those Reddit/Discourse threads though.
I thought same as well, but seems reddit mods are different:
> Please note that the official Rust moderation team is not the same organization as the team that moderates the subreddit here on /r/rust. The subreddit is an unofficial space, and though it is frequented by many who are affiliated with the project, it remains independent from the Rust project. The /r/rust mod team is not resigning from moderating the subreddit.
> In the interest of disclosure, two of the moderators who are resigning from the official mod team are moderators here on this subreddit (matthieum and llogiq). They appear to have not resigned their position here, which I appreciate, since they're rather excellent moderators. However, in the interest of impartiality I am asking them to recuse themselves from taking moderator action in this thread (they may still comment as usual if they wish, of course).
Yes, as you’ve said, some of the mods in the Mod team were also the subreddit mods, and they deleted the comments and locked the threads by their own volition (even without requirement from the Core team, so this reinforces my interpretation). It’s likely that the Mod team wasn’t adversarial with the Core team from the start, but tensions gradually grew as the drama surrounding the core team got unmanageable.
> Yes, as you’ve said, some of the mods in the Mod team were also the subreddit mods, and they deleted the comments and locked the threads by their own volition (even without requirement from the Core team, so this reinforces my interpretation)
But AFAICS the core team being involved in moderation activities has nothing to do with Reddit. That quote above on how the teams were supposed to cooperate was about moderation of the official Rust forums, wasn't it? Reddit isn't one of those.
So if you're seeing your interpretation confirmed, that's just... Wrong. It doesn't confirm anything of the kind.
My interpretation is that the drama happening around the core team (like the things you've mentioned) gets increasingly overwhelming for the mod team to handle, leading to complaints against the core team for causing such drama (which they do not have the sufficient resources nor actual power to handle). This further escalates and devolves into a worse relationship between the two, leading to the resignation.
From the thread on /r/rust one of the mods (different from the Rust's mods) talked about the relationship between the Core and the Mod team:
This is maybe a workable agreement if the Core and the Mod team went along well, but currently it seems like that's not the case. The last clause (Involvement) basically tells that "we really don't want the two teams to fight, and things should be resolved with common sense". Now that this is way out of the window, perhaps it would be a good time for the Rust contributors to reevaluate their team structure.