[vox-announce] New mailing list rules
Henry House
hajhouse@houseag.com
Mon, 24 May 2004 07:06:22 -0700
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The officers of LUGOD have updated the rules that govern our mailing lists
(vox, vox-tech, and other vox-* kin). Comments are welcome (direct them to =
me
or vox). Here is a summary of the changes.=20
- There is a new paragraph of front matter explaining the motivation of the=
se
rules.
- There is a new section warning about the public nature of the mailing lis=
ts.
- We now recommend setting line lengths for new messages to 74--76 characte=
rs
per line, to allow quoting a few times before the lines reach 80 characte=
rs,
the length that causes problems for some mail clients.
- There is a new rule against starting a new thread by replying to an
unrelated message. Some people have already been asked not to do this but
this rule is now official.
- Many other small additions and modifications to clarify existing languages
- Many small copyedits.
Here is a complete list of changes, made using the shell tool wdiff. I have
edited the output slightly to improve its readbility. Deleted text is enclo=
sed
within [- -] blocks, while {+ +} block mark newly added text.
As always, the full text of the rules is available at
<http://lugod.org/mailinglists>.
LUGOD Mailing List Rules
By signing on to our mailing lists, you must agree to these rules. Failure
to comply will lead to a private warning, public warning, moderation of
your posts or even expulsion from the lists depending on the frequency and
severity of the list rule violations. Sorry to say this, but we want to
foster a [-friendly-] {+friendly, good-natured,+} and [-good natured-]
{+smoothly functioning+} environment for everyone, especially those who are
new to Linux.
[-1.-] {+This is much more likely to happen if everyong concientiously
follows the simple rules. If you consider these restrictions to be facist
censorship, then you are welcome to (1) run for an officership position so
that you can change the rules or (2) find a different forum whose rules
are more to your liking. That said, we try to address all reasonable
complains and accomodate all points of view without undue prejudice. You
are expected to follow the conventions of netiquette (Internet etiquette),
such as using a descriptive subject, even though they are not explicitly
listed in these rules. If you are in doubt about what is considered good
behavior in an 'Net forum, we recommend consulting a guide, such as The
Free Online Dictionary of Computing.+}
{+Public Nature
The mailing lists are public --- anyone can join them to receive list
messages. Posts are archived on this web site and possibly other places on
the 'Net as well. Do not post if you are not confortable with your message
going to many unknown recipients and becoming a permanent part of a
publically readble archive somewhere.+}
Message formats
a. Don't send HTML email
Never send HTML email to any of the [-lists.-] {+lists --- no
exceptions!. Many LUGOD members dislike HTML mail strongly.+} See the
LUGOD FAQ for more information.
b. Don't send email attachments
Never send attachments GPG signatures are OK) to the lists. If
[-there's a file-] you [-wish-] {+want+} to share {+some file+} with
the [-club,-] {+club that is too big to paste directly into your
message, you may put it up on you own website or+} contact the
webmaster[- and they-] {+, who+} may be able to post the file to our
[-website, at least-] {+website+} temporarily.
c. Use [-80 character-] {+76-character+} lines {+(or shorter)+}
Messages with lines greater than 80 characters are [-unsightly-]
{+unsightly, contrary to established Internet standards,+} and hard to
read for [-most-] {+many+} of us. Make sure you use [-less-] {+fewer+}
than [-80-] {+74--76+} characters per line in your messages, especially
if you're using a Windows mail client.
[-2. Please-] {+You may need to turn on 'word wrapping' or a simimilarly
named feature. By starting with lines 74--76 characters long. messages
can+} be {+quoted in replies a few times before reaching 80 characters.
Be+} polite
If you have an issue with some one, please keep it in private e-mail.
Always be polite and respectful of other people and their ideas on these
lists. Never flame for any reason.
[-3.-] {+NB: This is not a prohibition against expressing your opinion,
only about certain methods of expressing it.+}
Technical Assistance
[-The list manager is Bill-] {+Our vox mailing lists are administered by
our mailing-list manager, currently Bill+} Kendrick. He manages /
[-administrates-] {+administers+} the mailing lists and also enforces [-the
rules.-] {+these rules (sometimes other LUGOD officers do this as well).+}
If you have any problems or questions about the mailing lists, please
contact him. By using vox-lists, you must agree to abide by the list
administrator's wishes concerning the vox-lists.
[-4.-]
{+Staying On-topic
1.+} Use the right list; don't crosspost.
Please don't crosspost between the different vox-lists. Also, don't
crosspost between any of the vox-lists and other non-LUGOD mailing
lists.
[-5.-]
{+2.+} Off-Topic postings
When posting a message that isn't particularly related to Linux or the
club, please prepend "[OT]" (short for "Off-Topic") to the message's
subject line. (eg, "[OT] Dr. Who convention"). To help reduce traffic,
if you notice that a particular list is having a high-volume day,
please refrain from posting off-topic messages altogether.
[-6.-]
{+3. Do not start a new thread by replying to an unrelated message Do not
post a message that starts a new line of discussion (thread) by replying
to someone else's post and changing the subject. Instead, use the 'compose
new message' or whatever equivalent command your mailer provides.
An example of this is asking a question, "How can I learn how to run a
web server on Linux?" by replying to a message on "Re: Compiling
PostgreSQL from source on Debian". The two posts are completely
unrelated. On the other hand, it is a good practice to change the
subject line when the discussion in a thread drifts to a new (but
related) topic.
A good test it this: did you quote relevant discussion in your new
message and author a response to it? If the previous discussion was
irrelevant to your new post, then you should start a new thread using
'compose new message', not 'reply'.
Preventing Excessive Traffic
1.+} Message lengths
When replying to a message, please try to trim out the quoted parts
which don't apply, especially on vox. {+Do not quote an entire message
digest in you reply.+}
Never trim attributions; if you're replying to post, leave the identity
of the poster intact!
[-7.-]
{+2.+} Khendon's Law
You are expected to follow Khendon's Law:
If the same point is made twice by the same person, the thread is over.
[-8.-]
{+3.+} Eminent Domain
Sometimes a particular thread or topic will become dangerously close to
becoming a heated argument or will be hashed and rehashed so many times
that everyone gets sick of the topic. In the name of keeping the peace,
the [-mailing list-] {+mailing-list+} administrator reserves the right
to declare these threads or topics [-"off limits".-] {+temporarily
off-limits.+} Right or wrong, you must abide by all [-his-] {+the list
manager's+} decisions.
--=20
Henry House
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See <http://hajhouse.org/pgp> to find out how to verify it.
My OpenPGP key: <http://hajhouse.org/hajhouse.asc>.
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