[rescue] Proposed new mailing list rules & guidelines

[Bill Bradford]

On Sat, Jun 26, 2004 at 07:48:01PM -0400, Carl R. Friend wrote:
>    The fact that *this* needs mentioning speaks volumes about
> the society we live in.  Geez.  Aren't *manners* taught any
> more?

You'd be surprised. 8-(

> >   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?

Good question.  Any suggestions on a rewrite/reword?

> > * Please post in plain ASCII text, no more than 72 characters per
> >   line. [...]
>    Dang.  Seventy-two.  May the gods bless the ASR-33.

As they say in Pirates of the Carribean, "Its not a rule, more of a...
guideline."

> > * 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"?

How's this:

  Typos occasionally happen.  We tolerate them in normal quantities,
  but if you're going to send a mail to hundreds of people, please
  try to spell correctly.  Avoid using shorthand abbreviations or                 "IM Speak" such as "r u", "l8", etc.

> > * 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.

True, but that doesn't mean we can't make fun of it. :)

> > * 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?)

The current version :

* Please post in plain ASCII text, no more than 72 characters per
  line.  This is because many subscribers read their mail with
  text-based mailers (mail(1), mutt, pine, emacs) and they find
  HTML-formatted messages or lines that stretch beyond 72 characters
  often unreadable.  DO NOT POST IN ALL CAPS.  MIME email will be
  converted to plain text (and any attachments removed) before delivery
  to the list.

I'll post the current version on http://www.sunhelp.org/listrules.txt 
in the next five minutes.

Bill

-- 
bill bradford
austin texas