How did I become a Group Owner (without knowing it)?

[Dana Enyo]

I hope someone on the SL Server Side sees this, because it makes ZERO sense to me and could be important! 

Today someone IMd me with a question about a SL group (of about 450 members including me).  I had no idea, and she said that I should, because I am the OWNER of the group.  I checked, and sure enough, there's my name!

Nobody ever asked or informed me this was happening.  My only guess is that the FOUNDER of the group was also named Dana (their display name); perhaps when they closed their account the server went looking for them and found me??  I have no clue when the Ownership transfer took place, but today is the first time I've ever received the kind of IM that might go to an Owner or Officer, so it can't have been too long ago.

Anyway, I'm posting this here because if it happens elsewhere, and someone suddenly got ownership of a group with physical assets (this group doesn't), there could really be some real problems caused by innocent errors or confusion, or purposeful mischief.  I'm going to jump in and do the best I can to run the group responsibly, but this was a complete surprise.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? 

[Rolig Loon]

No, I haven't.  A group can have several people in the Owner role, though, and any one of them has the power to move any other member into the Owner role.  It doesn't require that person's approval or even knowledge, so you could have easily been made an Owner without any notice.  Once you are in the role, nobody can remove you.  You have to remove yourself.  If you are the only person in that role, there are only two ways to get out of it:  (1) put someone else in the role and then leave it quickly, or (2) eject everyone from the group and then leave (the captain goes down with the ship).

[Mollymews]

agree with Rolig

is most likely that another owner added you to the Owner role by mistake

if there is already one or more others in the Owner role then remove yourself from the Owner role

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by Mollymews

[Dana Enyo]

There was only one Owner on the list, which was me.  It's just really strange that ALL other owners (if there was ever more than one) would have removed themselves after one of them adding an av whose first name just happens to match the display name of the Founder.  It's just the kind of thing a weird database error would do, which is why I'm bringing it up.

In the meantime, I've added a trustworthy, knowledgeable co-owner and we'll carry on.

[Rolig Loon]

8 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

In the meantime, I've added a trustworthy, knowledgeable co-owner and we'll carry on.

Smart move.  That's your Get Out Of Jail Free card. In the future, if you tire of being an Owner you can just abandon the role and leave the other person in charge. That just might be what the previous owners all did.

[Dana Enyo]

That's my guess, Rolig.  But either one of them (the Last Av Standing) handed me the role, or some Server did.  And if there's a bug in the program that just goes and finds an av with the similar name to an owner that closed an account, that's a problem.  (What DOES the server do if there is one owner of a group and they just close the account without closing the group?)

[Rolig Loon]

3 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

(What DOES the server do if there is one owner of a group and they just close the account without closing the group?)

It's my understanding that the group dies if the sole owner leaves SL, but I can't find written documentation to verify that.  Maybe @Kristen Linden can enlighten us.

[Dana Enyo]

Maybe she can look at logs and find out when and how the ownership transfer came to me.  I would sure love to know!

[Lindal Kidd]

It doesn't sound as if any harm can come of your unexpected promotion. However, if you're curious you could file a support case and ask LL to look into it.

[Ardy Lay]

This is how one becomes The Dread Pirate Roberts.  The current Dread Pirate Roberts pulls you up to their level then jumps ship.

[Dana Enyo]

Lindal:  I tried to file a ticket, but none of the drop-down menu choices applied.  And I don't really need help, I just think somebody there needs to know this happened.

As I said in my original post, if this was a group that owned land or lots of stuff  handing it off to someone by mistake (and not even informing them you did it) could really create some serious problems. 

[Rowan Amore]

24 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

Lindal:  I tried to file a ticket, but none of the drop-down menu choices applied.  And I don't really need help, I just think somebody there needs to know this happened.

As I said in my original post, if this was a group that owned land or lots of stuff  handing it off to someone by mistake (and not even informing them you did it) could really create some serious problems. 

Can you change your own role, taking yourself OUT of the owner role?

[Dana Enyo]

Rowan: Yes I can.  I added another Owner (WITH their knowledge and consent!) so if I want to, I can remove my own Owner status.  But we've agreed to work together on this, for a while anyway.

[Lindal Kidd]

14 hours ago, Dana Enyo said:

Lindal:  I tried to file a ticket, but none of the drop-down menu choices applied.  And I don't really need help, I just think somebody there needs to know this happened.

As I said in my original post, if this was a group that owned land or lots of stuff  handing it off to someone by mistake (and not even informing them you did it) could really create some serious problems. 

Use Technical Question > Group Issue

[Dana Enyo]

Lindal:  When I select TECHNICAL QUESTIONS, the only option I get is INVENTORY ISSUE.  

[Lindal Kidd]

Ah. I bet you're a Basic member. Premium members get more options. I still think you could submit the question. Pick the closest available category (even Inventory Issue!) and explain in the body of the submission.

[Dana Enyo]

LIndal: yes, that would explain it.  But it's OK; my goal was to create the awareness.  And if any Linden follows these forums at all, maybe they'll take an interest and see if it's a server issue that needs to be addressed.

[Rolig Loon]

2 minutes ago, Dana Enyo said:

And if any Linden follows these forums at all, maybe they'll take an interest and see if it's a server issue that needs to be addressed.

That's hardly the way that it works. The moderators are here to be sure that the forums are running smoothly and to deal with occasional violations of the community standards.  If you think you may have discovered a security issue or a flaw in the software, you should post in the JIRA.  That's the pipeline for reporting system problems.  Look first to see whether someone has posted a similar issue.  If not, then make a report with as much detail as you can, citing an instance of the problem that you can document or providing a way to replicate the issue.  JIRA reports are triaged to see whether they have enough information to test and are then assigned for Quailty Assurance and further action, if necessary.

[Dana Enyo]

Ah!  OK Rolig, posting to the JIRA is new to me but I'll try to do that right now.

ADDED 20 MINUTES LATER:  DONE.  Rolig, thank you for pointing me in the right direction.  And thank everyone for your comments and suggestions.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Dana Enyo

[Dana Enyo]

Several days later:  several Lindens have responded with questions for me, so they are looking at the issue.