emv@ox.com (Ed Vielmetti) (03/12/91)
In article <1991Mar11.162930.8008@convex.com> tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) writes:
At the request of someone in email, I'm posting my rn magic for
sending someone an automatic message gently chiding them for
their misplaced posting into alt.sources.
I think that this is a mistake.
Much better would be to put more sources in alt.sources, so that
people learn by example what to expect there, and don't mistakenly ask
questions. For instance, if you see sources in some other group,
repost them into alt.sources. Or post something of your own!
Auto-hassling scripts strike me as an unnecessary annoyance likely to
cause animosity. better would be to either ignore the posting
completely , or answer the request by mail as best you can and gently
chide the user into changing their ways.
--Ed
sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) (03/13/91)
I hate form letters (and computer telephone calls and ...) with such a passion that I'd be likely to mail you 10 copies of it back and then slap on a mailbox filter to keep you out. Non-sources in alt.sources aren't welcome, but I don't approve of form letters as a method. Please find a better way. Sean -- ** Sean Casey <sean@s.ms.uky.edu>
ruck@reef.cis.ufl.edu (John Ruckstuhl) (03/15/91)
Someone writes: >I hate form letters (and computer telephone calls and ...) with such a >passion that I'd be likely to mail you 10 copies of it back and then >slap on a mailbox filter to keep you out. Many people claim to dislike form letters. I am no psychologist, but I wonder if these people have, without thinking, generalized their irritation at bulk mailed advertisements and time-wasting telephone calls to the distinct superset of form letters. Are such people annoyed by the monthly Church bulletin? The appointment reminder from their dentist? Email replies generated by a "vacation" program? The automatic acknowledgements from a moderated newsgroup like comp.dcom.telecom? How do these people resolve their (assumed) acceptance of newspapers and trade journals? Books? These publications are obviously not personalized. Form letters are part of efficient communications. The two-page form letter from a relative at Christmas may be hard to get used to, but it's better than the two-line "Merry Christmas", unless you're the sensitive/easily-offended type (in my opinion). Of course, I may learn from other points of view during this discussion. But now, I believe persons who would be offended by such a form letter are exactly the set of people who would be offended by a custom letter, plus (union) the set of people who irrationally claim to dislike form letters. And, I believe that most of those offended would claim the source of the offense was the form nature of the notice (regardless of the true source of irritation), because that claim is more socially acceptable. Until people realize it's silly. Argh. I didn't mean to start a fight. I don't have time to fight. Regards, ruck. -- John R Ruckstuhl, Jr ruck@alpha.ee.ufl.edu Dept of Electrical Engineering ruck@cis.ufl.edu, uflorida!ruck University of Florida ruck%sphere@cis.ufl.edu, sphere!ruck