rick@seismo.UUCP (Rick Adams) (09/08/84)
if test ! -d doc then echo mkdir doc mkdir doc fi echo x - doc/README sed 's/^X//' >doc/README <<'*-*-END-of-README-*-*' XDocumentation in this directory has already been formatted with nroff. XWhile the sources are available, some are written with -mm and some Xwith -ms. Since USG systems have only -mm and V7 and 4BSD has only -ms, Xabout the only portable way to write documents is to use the -man macros. X(No thanks!) To make the documents usable to everyone, they are distributed Xpre-formatted. Overstriking is done with carriage return (rather than Xbackspace) which seems to work better on some line printers. *-*-END-of-README-*-* echo x - doc/etiquette sed 's/^X//' >doc/etiquette <<'*-*-END-of-etiquette-*-*' X X A Primer on How to Work With the USENET Community X Chuq Von Rospach (nsc!chuqui) X X X X *** You now have access to Usenet, a big network of thousands of X computers. Other documents or your system administrator will provide X detailed technical documentation. This message describes the Usenet X culture and customs which have developed over time. All new users should X read this message to find out how Usenet works. *** *** (Old users could X read it too to refresh their memories.) *** X X USENET is a large collection of computers that share data with each other. X It is the people on these computers that make USENET worth the effort, and X for USENET to function properly these people must be able to interact in X productive ways. This document is intended as a guide to using the net in X ways that will be pleasant and productive for everyone. X X This document is not intended to teach you how to use USENET. Instead, it X is a guide to using it politely, effectively and efficiently. X Communication by computer is new to almost everybody, and there are X certain aspects that can make it a frustrating experience until you get X used to them. This document should help you avoid the worst traps. X X The easiest way to learn how to use USENET is to watch how others use it. X Start reading the news and try to figure out what people are doing and X why. After a couple of weeks you will start understanding why certain X things are done and what things shouldn't be done. There are documents X available describing the technical details of how to use the software. X These are different depending on which programs you use to access the X news. You can get copies of these from your system administrator. If you X do not know who that person is they can be contacted on most systems by X mailing to account 'usenet'. X X X Never Forget that the Person on the Other Side is Human X X Because your interaction with the network is through a computer it is easy X to forget that there are people "out there." Situations arise where X emotions erupt into a verbal free-for-all that can lead to hurt feelings. X X Please remember that people all over the world are reading your words. Do X not attack people if you cannot persuade them with your presentation of X the facts. Screaming, cursing, and abusing others only serves to make X people think less of you and be less willing to help you when you need it. X X If you are upset at something or someone, wait until you have had a chance X to calm down and think about it. A cup of coffee or a good night's sleep X works wonders on your perspective. Hasty words create more problems than X they solve. Try not to say anything to others you would not say to them X in person in a room full of people. X X Be Brief X X Never say in ten words what you can say in fewer. Say it succinctly and X it will have a higher impact. Remember that the longer you make your X article, the fewer people will bother to read it. X X Your Postings Reflect Upon You; Be Proud of Them X X Most people on USENET will know you only by what you say and how well you X say it. They may someday be your co-workers or friends. Take some time X to make sure each posting is something that will not embarrass you later. X Minimize your spelling errors and make sure that the article is easy to X read and understand. Writing is an art and to do it well requires X practice. Since much of how people judge you on the net is based on your X writing, such time is well spent. X X Use Descriptive Titles X X The subject line of an article is there to enable a person with a limited X amount of time to decide whether or not to read your article. Tell people X what the article is about before they read it. A title like "Car for X Sale" to net.auto does not help as much as "66 MG Midget for sale: X Beaverton OR." Don't expect people to read your article to find out what X it is about because many of them won't bother. Some sites truncate the X length of the subject line to 40 characters so keep your subjects short X and to the point. X X Think About Your Audience X X When you post an article think about the people you are trying to reach. X Asking UNIX(*) questions on net.auto will not reach as many of the people X you want to reach as if you asked them on net.unix or net.unix-wizards. X Try to get the most appropriate audience for your message, not the widest. X X It is considered bad form to post to net.general, net.misc, net.net- X people, or net.wanted and some other newsgroup. If it belongs in that X other newsgroup, it does not belong in net.general, net.misc, net.net- X people, or net.wanted. It is important that no unnecessary messages be X sent to net.general. If it gets overloaded, people start unsubscribing to X it and its usefulness is impaired. X X If your message is of interest to a limited geographic area (apartments, X car sales, meetings, concerts, etc...), restrict the distribution of the X message to your local area. Some areas have special newsgroups with X geographical limitations, and the newer versions of the news software X allow you to limit the distribution of material sent to net-wide X newsgroups. Check with your system administrator to see what newsgroups X are available and how to use them. X X If you want to try a test of something, do not use a net-wide newsgroup! X Messages in net.general that say "This is a test" are likely to cause X large numbers of caustic messages to flow into your mailbox. There are X newsgroups that are local to your computer or area that should be used. X Your system administrator can tell you what they are. There is a X newsgroup called net.test, but it is there for the system administrators X to use to test the network software and should not be used by anyone else. X X Be Careful with Humor and Sarcasm X X Without the voice inflections and body language of personal X communications, it is easy for a remark meant to be funny to be X misinterpreted. Subtle humor tends to get lost, so take steps to make X sure that people realize you are trying to be funny. The net has X developed a symbol called the smiley face. It looks like ":-)" and points X out sections of articles with humorous intent. No matter how broad the X humor or satire, it is safer to remind people that you are being funny. X X Only Post a Message Once X X Avoid posting messages to more than one newsgroup unless you are sure it X is appropriate. If you do post to multiple newsgroups, do not post to X each group separately. Instead, specify all the groups on a single copy X of the message. This reduces network overhead and lets people who X subscribe to more than one of those groups see the message once instead of X having to wade through each copy. X X Please Rotate Messages With Questionable Content X X Certain newsgroups (such as net.jokes) have messages in them that may be X offensive to some people. To make sure that these messages are not read X unless they are explicitly requested, these messages should be encrypted. X The standard encryption method is to rotate each letter by thirteen X characters so that an "a" becomes an "n". This is known on the network as X "rot13" and when you rotate a message the word "rot13" should be in the X "Subject:" line. Most of the software used to read usenet articles have X some way of encrypting and decrypting messages. Your system administrator X can tell you how the software on your system works, or you can use the X Unix command "tr [a-z][A-Z] [n-z][a-m][N-Z][A-M]". X X Summarize What You are Following Up X X When you are following up someone's article, please summarize the parts of X the article to which you are responding. This allows readers to X appreciate your comments rather than trying to remember what the original X article said. It is also possible for your response to get to some sites X before the original article. X X Summarization is best done by including appropriate quotes from the X original article. Do not include the entire article since it will X irritate the people who have already seen it. Even if you are responding X to the entire article, summarize only the major points you are discussing. X X When Summarizing, Summarize! X X When you request information from the network, it is common courtesy to X report your findings so that others can benefit as well. The best way of X doing this is to take all the responses that you received and edit them X into a single article that is posted to the places where you originally X posted your question. Take the time to strip headers, combine duplicate X information, and write a short summary. Try to credit the information to X the people that sent it to you, where possible. X X Use Mail, Don't Post a Follow-up X X One of the biggest problems we have on the network is that when someone X asks a question many people send out identical answers. When this X happens, dozens of identical answers pour through the net. Mail your X answer to the person and suggest that they summarize to the network. This X way the net will only see a single copy of the answers, no matter how many X people answer the question. X X If you post a question, please remind people to send you the answers by X mail and offer to summarize them to the network. X X Read All Follow-ups and Don't Repeat What Has Already Been Said X X Before you submit a follow-up to a message, read the rest of the messages X in the newsgroup to see whether someone has already said what you want to X say. If someone has, don't repeat it. X X Be Careful About Copyrights and Licenses X X Once something is posted onto the network, it is effectively in the public X domain. When posting material to the network, keep in mind that material X that is UNIX-related may be restricted by the license you or your company X signed with AT&T and be careful not to violate it. You should also be X aware that posting movie reviews, song lyrics, or anything else published X under a copyright could cause you, your company, or the net itself to be X held liable for damages, so we highly recommend caution in using this X material. X X Cite Appropriate References X X If you are using facts to support a cause, state where they came from. X Don't take someone else's ideas and use them as your own. You don't want X someone pretending that your ideas are theirs; show them the same respect. X X Mark or Rotate Answers and Spoilers X X When you post something (like a movie review that discusses a detail of X the plot) which might spoil a surprise for other people, please mark your X message with a warning so that they can skip the message. Another X alternative would be to use the "rot13" protocol to encrypt the message so X it cannot be read accidentally. When you post a message with a spoiler in X it make sure the word "spoiler" is part of the "Subject:" line. X X Spelling Flames Considered Harmful X X Every few months a plague descends on USENET called the spelling flame. X It starts out when someone posts an article correcting the spelling or X grammar in some article. The immediate result seems to be for everyone on X the net to turn into a 6th grade English teacher and pick each other's X postings apart for a few weeks. This is not productive and tends to cause X people who used to be friends to get angry at each other. X X It is important to remember that we all make mistakes, and that there are X many users on the net who use English as a second language. If you feel X that you must make a comment on the quality of a posting, please do so by X mail, not on the network. X X Don't Overdo Signatures X X Signatures are nice, and many people can have a signature added to their X postings automatically by placing it in a file called "$HOME/.signature". X Don't overdo it. Signatures can tell the world something about you, but X keep them short. A signature that is longer than the message itself is X considered to be in bad taste. The main purpose of a signature is to help X people locate you on the net, not learn your life story. Every signature X should include your return address relative to a well known site on the X network. Your system administrator can give this to you. X X X Summary of Things to Remember X X X Never forget that the person on the other side is human X Be brief X Your postings reflect upon you; be proud of them X Use descriptive titles X Think about your audience X Be careful with humor and sarcasm X Only post a message once X Please rotate material with questionable content X Summarize what you are following up X Use mail, don't post a follow-up X Read all follow-ups and don't repeat what has already been said X Be careful about copyrights and licenses X Cite appropriate references X When summarizing, summarize X Mark or rotate answers or spoilers X Spelling flames considered harmful X Don't overdo signatures X X X(*)UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories. X X X X X X *-*-END-of-etiquette-*-* exit