[rescue] Proposed new mailing list rules & guidelines

[Carl R. Friend]

   On Fri, 25 Jun 2004, Bill Bradford wrote:

> * Be considerate of other list subscribers.  Flamewars, bigotry,
>   intolerance, and racism will not be tolerated.

   The fact that *this* needs mentioning speaks volumes about
the society we live in.  Geez.  Aren't *manners* taught any
more?

>   Discussions of illegal activities, software piracy, or how to 
>   "bypass" copy protection and licensing schemes are not permitted.  

   What about ways of "enabling" otherwise impossible-to-get
"licenses" from dead licensors, companies, &c?  Some of those
things really should be preserved somehow.  For instance, has
anyone here seen a "legit" compiler for the Clipper platform
available for sale in the past five years?  How about a license
for DECNET on MIPS (or VAX) ULTRIX?

> * Please post in plain ASCII text, no more than 72 characters per
>   line. [...]

   Dang.  Seventy-two.  May the gods bless the ASR-33.

> * Technical - if you post a question, please include relevant information
>   iin your post:

   Typos ocassionally happen.  We tolerate them in limited quantities,
but if you overdo it you're subject to censure.  ;-)

   What are the rules on "emoticons"?

> * Corporate email rules and disclaimers will be ridiculed based upon 
>   their length and amount of legal jargon.

   If someone is posting to the list from a "work" account he may
not have any choice in the matter; that garbage gets added by the
MTA/virus-scanner layer.

> * COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING ON THESE MAILING LISTS IS NOT ALLOWED WITHOUT
>   PRIOR PERMISSION FROM THE LIST MANAGER.

   Thank you!  (What was that about posting in all caps, though?)

>   Any sales people violating this rule (especially if you have
>   subscribed to the list just to spam) will find themselves removed
>   from the list, along with complaints submitted to their manager,
>   the owner of the company they work for, and possibly their Internet
>   access provider.

   s/possibly//g

>   Personal for sale/for trade posts are allowed within reason.  If you
>   have a large list of equipment to post (for example, getting rid of a
>   collection, cleaning out the garage, or you're moving and don't want
>   to haul it all), please contact Bill Bradford for approval first.

   Put the list on a web-page and post a link.  That's the best
bet in situations like this.  It keeps list volume to a minimum
and allows a lot of discretion on the part of the person who's
trying to "move" stuff.

   We'd all hope that collections will stay with their collectors,
save for the occasional "estate" dealings (which, like it or not,
are _inevitable_), but if the unthinkable happens and somebody
needs to divest, a decent notice should go out so bits and pieces
of our collective history don't wind up in a landfill someplace.

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | West Boylston       |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
| mailto:crfriend at rcn.com                        +---------------------+
| http://users.rcn.com/crfriend/museum           | ICBM: 42:22N 71:47W |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+