I definitely vote against two separate pools.

So do I. What I was imagining, picking up on ewein's idea, was a single thread that would provide a starting point for new contributors, and that contribution there would not in any way militate against a newcomer posting wherever else they felt comfortable doing so.

The essential feature that I saw in this was to provide an obvious focus for newcomers to build early experience without too much perceived pressure from long-established contributors. This still seems to me a worthwhile additional feature, since it would not detract from the existing pattern but merely augment it.


edit: hah! ewein, in the meantime you've said it more succinctly than I did anyway =)