Re: [tlug] Linux, Solaris & AIX

[Scott Robbins <scottro@??>]

On Wed, Feb 07, 2007 at 07:30:12PM -0800, mike miller B-) wrote:
> 
> 
> "Erin D. Hughes" <erin-hughes@??> wrote:
> 
> 
>     >
>     >
>     > Samba is very important
>     So is not top posting..... http://www.tlug.jp/listpolicy.php
>     I am the not a stickler for following the rules.... but this is a no
>     brainer.
> 
>     E./
> 
>     Ok, being a mailing list "newbie" (maybe 6 posts in 2 mailing lists over
>     3-4 years) this is the first I've heard of this. Did my post also violate
>     "Failing to trim" and "Thread hijacking" aspects as well from your
>     perspecitve?


One could argue that Erin's post violated failure to trim.  :)


A quick review for all newcomers...

Before going into this, please keep in mind, none of this is written in
stone, but is generally considered good netiquette.  Following these
guidelines helps keep the noise down too--otherwise, we get sidetracked
into overly long discussions about this.

Tlug, like many technical mailing lists, including most Microsoft ones,
prefers that you post inline.  That means answer paragraph A after
paragraph A, paragraph B after paragraph B.  Otherwise, it often looks
like


A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. 
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? 
A: Top-posting. 
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

Or, in a more light-hearted vein

Yes please.
With cream and sugar.

Would you like coffee?
How would you like it. 

Trimming is also helpful--that is, when replying to a post, snip out the
extra stuff. 

(As an example, unless someone wants to point to how witty
my top-posting examples are--though neither is original--if replying to
this post, you'd trim out those examples--they aren't necessary to
understanding the point of my post.  You could also trim this
parenthetical statement without losing any of the essence of my post.)

Thread hijacking is a little trickier, because many email clients don't
show you that you've done it.  In a way, I am also thread hijacking
here, by totally changing the subject of this post without changing the
subject line.  However, the usual meaning of thread hijacking is
something that is usually an error by a newcomer.  It's changing the
subject line and starting a new thread.  For instance, if I want to talk
about netiquette, simply change the subject line of some other email
to netiquette, those of you using Outlook Express won't notice.  Those
who use mutt and set it to follow threads will notice that suddenly a
thread has a new subject line.  I have an illustration of this at

http://www.scottro.net/threadhijack.jpg, with an explanation at

http://www.scottro.net/linfaq.html#netiquette

Godwin also has an excellent page about standard netiquette at

http://linux.sgms-centre.com/misc/netiquette.php

(One or the other of those might be linked at the tlug page.)

If you are starting a new thread, create a new email, don't delete a
subject line and put in one of your own.  If the subject of a thread is
changing, you should do something like
Netiquette (was Solaris AIX)

On the other hand, one of our more knowledgeable members (who shall
remain nameless, though I'll mention he lives in Ohio and has a first
name beginning with J) will often change subject lines like a mad man.
Of course, he sometimes does it just to annoy people, though when we beg
him to stop, he does.   Sigh, he's probably going to make me pay for
this.  :)


While people often get lazy or are in a hurry and break the top posting
or the trimming rule, breaking the threading rule shows that you're a
newcomer, so almost no one does that one a second time. :)  Geek
coolness you see.  (On the other hand, lots of people break it a first
time, not realizing that we really elite folks use mutt and can see
their newness.)  

Anyway, hopefully this explanation helps Mike and perhaps, other
newcomers who haven't yet posted.  

As you see Mike, even though your posts were informative, the fact that
they were top posted brought comment--in this case, it happened to be
Erin, but there were probably several folks who, on a list like this,
with many tech gurus on it, who would have done so had he not.

NOTE:  The stuff below about unsubscribing and visiting our sponsor
should ALWAYS be trimmed as it will appear again on your own post.  I'm
leaving it untrimmed here for educational purposes.

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--------------------------------------------------



Note--the signature below could be considered too long--it should really
be limited to 4 lines, but I'm indulged because I've been on the list a
long time.   Some of the random Buffy quotes are really too long, and I
have to go through the list one day--or, since the show's been off the
air for so long now, I should probably drop it entirely.  


-- 

Scott Robbins, list co-moderator

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