tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) (09/10/89)
If you have a specific question about something you read in a news
article, MAIL the question to the person who posted the article. Do not
post the question as an article itself, UNLESS the question is likely to
be of interest as general as the original article.
- Right for Mail:
"I'm new to this newsgroup and I keep seeing references to
the acronym USCWOAP. Does it mean what I think it means?"
"Could you send me a copy of that source too, when you get it?"
"What a rude posting! Please don't put that stuff here."
"Don't I know you from Yoyodyne Industries?"
"I didn't get part 18 of that archive. Could the author
mail me the missing part?" [ Mail this to the author! ]
"In article <12345@blah> Joe Schmoe writes:
>entire
>quoted
>article
>even
>unto
>the guy's .signature...
Oh yeah? So YOU say! Ha! So there!"
- Right for Posting:
[any new material of course]
"Joe Schmoe writes that the cesium-237 frammistat will soon be
available for general use and should solve the overheating
problems we've been seeing. But isn't there a major side
effect involving neodymium frosting? Turner[1989] indicates
the frosting escalates..." [ Altho it's a question it really
carries the colloquy forward and is of general interest, likely
to elicit more informative followups itself. ]
"In response to a recent request, the address for Rent An Agony
Booth is Box 6000SUX, Monoxide, CA 91234."
"Can you tell us more about the results of that probe? News
reports said the board's opinion was divided."
I hope the principle involved here is clear. News articles flood
EVERYWHERE and are nontrivially expensive for the net as a whole. Mail
goes to one place and is appropriate if what you're asking is of
interest primarily to you.
Remember, even if TWO or THREE people are interested in the answer, but
probably no more, you can put multiple names in the To: field of your
letter and so keep them informed.
And *definitely* remember to pay attention to the email address in the
signature of the person you're responding to. News paths are quasi
useless. You may have to substitute the signature address by hand.
Also note that just because you asked a question by mail doesn't mean
that the answer can never appear in the newsgroup! If it's of general
interest you can make your own followup posting announcing the info, and
still save the wasteful posting ASKING for it.
As always, please read the introductory postings in
news.announce.newusers before beginning life as a news poster. It makes
a big difference.
--
Annex Canada now! We need the room, \) Tom Neff
and who's going to stop us. (\ tneff@bfmny0.UU.NETedhew@xenitec.uucp (Ed Hew) (09/11/89)
In article <14644@bfmny0.UU.NET> tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff) writes: <other valid points used to live here> >Also note that just because you asked a question by mail doesn't mean >that the answer can never appear in the newsgroup! If it's of general >interest you can make your own followup posting announcing the info, and >still save the wasteful posting ASKING for it. If you're using someone else's material, it's considered polite to request permission of the author before posting any quotes. >Annex Canada now! We need the room, \) Tom Neff > and who's going to stop us. (\ tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET Since we already get the U.S.'s smog, acid rain and toxic waste in Canada for free, we know better than to try to annex the rest. :-) Would you like some donated PCB's ? Ed. A. Hew Authorized Technical Trainer Xeni/Con Corporation work: edhew@xenicon.uucp -or- ..!{uunet!}utai!lsuc!xenicon!edhew ->home: edhew@xenitec.uucp -or- ..!{uunet!}watmath!xenitec!edhew ->home: previously: edhew@egvideo.uucp [for people with old maps] # I haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on floppy around here somewhere!