[H-GEN] Netiquette (specifically Humbug Lists)

Bruce Campbell bc at humbug.org.au
Mon Feb 4 11:33:35 EST 2002


[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and  ]
[ Unix-related topics.  Please observe the list's charter.           ]
[ Worthwhile understanding: http://www.humbug.org.au/netiquette.html ]


Greetings,

Right above the word 'Greetings', the Humbug lists automatically put three
little lines imploring you to read the List Charter, and to have a browse
through a particular URL.

Sometimes, it is useful to read the URL occasionally.  It helps to avoid
the list moderators getting grumpy and chiding people to read the URL.

It also is useful, not to say 'polite', to remove the header lines, _and
anything else that is not related to your reply_ , before replying.  ( To
say nothing of the future possibility of bouncing posts if people don't
remove this text ).

Sometimes, a discussion may evolve into something not appropriate to the
'general' list, for instance the recent Wireless discussion (which became
non-Humbug-general after about 7 posts).  In such an instance, taking the
thread to the 'chat' list is useful.  Noticing that a thread has moved,
and observing the move, is also useful.

Lastly, some people have subscribed to the 'general' (and 'chat') lists,
and then have attempted to post to the list from a different address.  As
they have noticed, such posts simply don't appear on the list.

Majordomo, being a grumpy bastard, bounces these messages to the
moderators as they are not from a subscribed address.  The moderators may
or may not forward these messages, depending on how irked they are feeling
towards the person at the time.

If you are not sure about which address you are subscribed as, please
refer to your saved copy of your subscription information which tells you
which address you are subscribed as.  You did save that message, right?
The nice little one that asks you nicely to save it?

If you haven't saved the message, you can find out by asking majordomo,
as per:

	To: majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au
	Subject: Majordomo does not read this line

	which me at my.address.at.my.isp

Majordomo will then tell you if your address is subscribed, and to which
list.  If that doesn't work, try:

	which my.isp

To see which addresses at your ISP are listed (sometimes this may be
surprising).

Finally, you can always ask majordomo for:

	help


If you have read thus far, please read aj's well-written post on the
subject below.

--==--
Bruce.


 Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:48:59 +1000
 From: Anthony Towns

 Hello world,

 Some tips:

	Read what you're about to post four or five times before you hit
	the send button. It'll save you embarrassment and everyone else
	a lot of agitation. This includes the headers, especially "To:",
	"Cc:", "Bcc:", "From:" and "Subject:". This also includes the
	body of your message. If you're posting something that you're
	*really* not sure about, ask a friend to review it first before
	posting. Seriously.

	If you *do* find that you make a mistake, think *very* carefully
	about whether it needs to be corrected, and if it does post the
	shortest post possible that will correct it. Quote just enough to
	give context, and just enough to give the correction. No more.

	If you're posting a question, think about whether you really need
	to ask a couple of hundred other people for help first, or if you
	can find out the answer on your own. /usr/doc/*, www.linux.org
	[0], and www.altavista.digital.com all have far more time on their
	hands to help with queries than most of us do here. So save us
	for the ones that they can't answer.

	If you're posting an answer, stop and check to see if anyone else
	has posted the answer first. If you have anything constructive
	to add, reply to their post, not the original question. If you
	don't have anything to add, don't say anything. If your mail
	reader makes this hard, get a new mail reader.

	When you're replying to other people it's customary to intersperse
	your response with their questions, both so you can answer the
	actual question that was asked, and so everyone else has some
	idea what you're talking about. It's also customary to limit your
	quoting to the minimum possible to get your point across. Don't
	quote the "Hi, lovely weather we've been having" part of a post,
	unless you specifically want to say "Yeah, it's due to the Libido
	effect, I hear", so to speak. If your mail reader makes this hard,
	get a new mail reader.

	Finally consider whether you should be posting to the list, or via
	personal email. If it's a problem that other people could have,
	post to the list. If it's an on topic discussion, and other people
	are likely to be interested, post to the list. If it's a "yes, I'd
	like a Linux badge", don't. Adding a "</aol>" to a "me too" post,
	doesn't make it the height of wit, btw. Least of all when ten
	other comedians try the same thing in the space of ten minutes.







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