[NTLK] [ANN] List Policy Overhaul

From: Victor Rehorst (victor_at_newtontalk.net)
Date: Mon May 17 2004 - 08:00:54 PDT

Dear everyone:

I've updated the list FAQ and policies. As always they are available at the
following URL:

http://www.newtontalk.net/faq.html

Soon there will also be a Paperback-format Newton book of the FAQ so that you
can install and refer to it on your Newton.

I've also strenghened the confirmation and welcome e-mails to let new
subscribers know that they should read the policy.

Below is the updated policy: please read and discuss. DON'T QUOTE THE WHOLE
THING. The list server probably won't let you anyways.

NewtonTalk list FAQ and Etiquette
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last updated 2004 May 17

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. List Policies
2. List Etiquette
3. General list info and history
4. Questions about list operations

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART 1: LIST CONDUCT AND POLICIES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i. Commercial and For-Sale announcements

   Commercial ads from companies must be approved before being posted
   to the list. For approval, please contact newtontalk-admins_at_newtontalk.net

   Personal buy/sell messages are OK, as long as you are selling NEWTONS. Not
   Macs, PCs, furniture, or anything else. We ask that you tag your subject
   line appropriately depending on the type of message:

   - [WTB] - Wanted To Buy (looking for some merchandies)
   - [FS] - For Sale (private sale on the list, NOT AN AUCTION)
   - [FA] - For Auction (auction on eBay)
   - [FT] - For Trade (trade XXX goods for Newton or vice-versa)

   Replies to for-sale messages should NOT be sent to the list.

ii. Virus Warnings

   Please do NOT post virus warnings to the list. This is not appropriate!
   Many of these are hoaxes. The best website to visit to find out about
   hoaxes, urban legends, and the like is Snopes:

   http://www.snopes.com/

   Even if it's not a hoax, DON'T POST VIRUS WARNINGS TO THE LIST.

iii. Anti-spam software

   if you use a challenge/response type of anti-spam software, you must
   have the ability to white-list all mail from our server
   (mail.continuity.cx) or all mail with the To: field set to
   "newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net". If your anti-spam software sends messages
   directly to people who post to the list, you will be removed from the
   list until you remedy the problem.

   If you happen to receive an automated-reply or a response from a
   mail-intercept service in response to a message that you posted to the
   list, please forward the message the message to
   newtontalk-admins_at_newtontalk.net so that we can remedy the situation.

iv. Off-topic topics

   Off-topic posts and threads are generally tolerated if they were spawned
   from an on-topic thread. This is a different policy from many other
   mailing lists which have established separate lists for off-topic subjects,
   but here at NTLK we maintain a more casual atmosphere.

   However, threads which stray into heated topics such as politics, personal
   beliefs, morality, PC vs. Mac discussions and the like should not exist on
   the list. Please take these topics to a more appropriate forum (like
   Usenet).

v. Message Archiving

   Messages posted to NTLK are automatically included in two list archives:
   http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/
   and
   http://marc.10east.com/?l=newtontalk

   Once a message is posted, it cannot be removed from the archive, either
   on www.newtontalk.net or MARC. NewtonTalk informally follows MARC's
   policy on privacy, which you can read at:
   http://marc.10east.com/?q=about#Privacy

vi. Message formats and attachments

   The list software automatically strips away attached files and HTML from
   messages. Everything is plain text for maximum compatibility with all
   mail software.

vii. Other

   E-mail addresses which encounter errors for more than 30 days will be
   removed from the list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART 2: LIST ETIQUETTE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In general, the best place to go to read about netiquette is RFC 1855:
http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html

Many large parts of this have been borrowed from the Mailing List
Etiquette FAQ: http://www.gweep.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html

How should I post to/reply to messages from the list?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In short, courteously, properly, concisely, and to the right address:
newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net

When replying to messages you receive from the list, you should acquaint
yourself with the reply options of your mail reader. Most mail programs
will have at least two reply modes: private and group. A private reply
will go only to the person who sent the original message. A group reply by
default should go to the original author, the list, and to any people who
received private copies of the original message. You should be able to
edit this list of addresses to reduce it to just the list address, plus
any other people you think should receive private copies.

when quoting, be very careful to edit the quoted sections down to the bare
minimum of text needed to maintain the context for your reply. There is
very little on a mailing list that is more annoying than paging through a
few pages of quoted text only to read a few lines at the end. Also be
careful that you clearly indicate what text you're quoting (as opposed to
what you're writing), and if possible, cite the author of the original
text. If your mail program wants to attach the whole message you're
replying to on the end of your replies, please do not let it do this if
you can possibly avoid it.

When you are creating a new message topic, please start with a fresh,
clean message in your mail reader by using the "Compose" or "New Message"
button, instead of hitting "Reply" to a list message and replacing the
subject and body. The reason is, when you hit "Reply" your mail reader
will ensure that your message is included in the thread of the other topic,
and for people who rely on threading this causes confusion. For more
information see:

http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/newtontalk.2004-03/1905.html

Is there anything I should not post to the list?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You should not post subscribe or unsubscribe requests to the list.

The basic rule is that as long as your post has some content related to
the primary subject of the list, and does not contain much off-topic
material, then it is fine for the list. Specifically, for almost every
list, this will immediately rule out many or all commercial ads, postings
on how to make money (such as MAKE MONEY FAST), sociology surveys, help
with homework, hot international news, and requests for people to send
birthday greetings to your friend.

Also, you should not post inflammatory (aka flame) mail to the list. It is
perfectly fine to disagree with people publicly, but be careful how you do
it. For example, if you think someone is lying on a subject, it may be
fine to say ``Betty's claims about Wilma's hair stylist are a lie,'' but
it is over the line to say ``Betty is a liar''.

If someone posts something with which you are in particular agreement,
that's great. You should not, however, follow up to the list with a post
containing no more than ``Me too!'' or ``Right on, brother!'' If you have
something of substance to add to the discussion, then by all means do so,
but if you simply wish to express a simple agreement, then do it in
private mail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART 3: GENERAL LIST INFO AND HISTORY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is the NewtonTalk list?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NewtonTalk is a mailing list run by the Newton community, dedicated to
discussion of the Newton line of handheld computers and related products.
(We do go off-topic occasionally, though).

Who runs the list?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The list itself is currently managed by Victor Rehorst. The list server
is hosted by Bill Shamam and continuity.cx. The web interface was written
by Paul Guyot. The assistant list admins are Paul Guyot and Grant Hutchinson.

What software does the list run?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Newtontalk runs on 100% free software! We use the eCartis mailing list
manager coupled with the Postfix mail delivery agent to transmit our pirate
signal into The Matri.... uh, send our messages out :)

What happened to Planet Newton running the list?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have executed a coup.

What the heck does that mean??
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, here's the history:

Before June 1999, the list was run by one guy, Sean O'Shaughnessy, aka the
"list dad." Things were happy and carefree, and the Newton had just been
cancelled, so no one was too worried :)

However, in 1999 Sean could no longer host the list on his own, and so
asked for someone to pick it up. PlanetNewton.com stepped in and agreed
to take over the list for Sean.

Things were alright for a while, but sometime in 2000 the list had
problems: outages, duplicate messages, people being randomly unsubscribed,
dropped digest subscribers and the like. Sometimes they were fixed, but
many people became frustrated at PN's attitude towards the list
management. Many felt that they just didn't care. Two "emergency" lists
were started in case PN went down.

During this time, many people asked Planet Newton if they would consider
giving up the list, since they were obviously having problems managing it.
All request (as far as the author knows) were met with denials.

In May 2001, PlanetNewton.com experienced a total server failure. Their
website and the mailing list suddenly disappeared. An effort to replace
PN's list with a community-run server had already been in the works for
several months, though. On June 12, 2001, NewtonTalk.net was launched.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART 4: QUESTIONS ABOUT LIST OPERATIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How often is the digest sent?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The digest is sent whenever its size reaches 50K, or every 12 hours, if
the first condition isn't reached.

How do I subscribe/unsubscribe/set digest/unset digest/find out my status?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Use the interface at http://www.newtontalk.net/

How do I set/unset vacation mode?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Send a message from your subscribed address to listar_at_newtontalk.net with
the string "set vacation" (without quotes) in the subject line. You can
leave the body of the message blank. To unset, change the word "set"
above to "unset".

I tried to post this cool file to the list and it didn't show up! What gives?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The list software automatically strips away attached files and HTML from
messages. Everything is plain text for maximum compatibility with all
mail software.

I don't want any more spam!!! Remove all of my messages from the archive!
                                     or
Someone said something nasty about me on the list, I demand that you remove it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NewtonTalk is an open, public communications medium. All posts to the
list are publically archived in two places:

- On the NTLK website at http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/
- On the searchable MARC archive at http://marc.10east.com/?l=newtontalk

Once a message is posted to the list, it cannot and will not be removed
from any of the archives. For one, this would be altering the public
record of what happened on the list, and we wish to preserve this for as
long as we can. Also, MARC will only remove messages if ordered to do so
by an appropriate court order (threatening e-mails from lawyers will not
get their attention).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

-- 
Victor Rehorst - victor_at_newtontalk.net - chuma_at_chuma.org
NewtonTalk list administrator - http://www.newtontalk.net
Will the last person to leave the platform please turn off the backlight?
-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/

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