chuqui@nsc.UUCP (02/20/84)
*sigh* I forgot a couple in my previous reminder...
$+1) When you summarize to the net, SUMMARIZE! Don't simply post a list of
all of the messages you got. In that case, it is much better just to let
them post them themselves! At the VERY LEAST, remove the stupid mail
headers from the messages, which will cut the size of your posting in about
half.
$+2) When you include a message in a followup, edit the stupid thing!
First, remove the header. Second, if you forget to remove the header,
remove the header. Then, instead of publishing the entire article you are
following up on, please edit the thing and only leave in those comments
that you are responding to. That way we have some idea what you are talking
about. If you need to include >~10 lines, don't bother, simply refer them
to the original (we can fairly safely assume they have it) preferably by
poster (ex: nsc!chuqui or Chuq at nsc or something fairly uniq and
identifiable) and article-id (as in <688@nsc.UUCP, which will also be in
your References: line if you are running decent software). Finally, if you
forgot to remove the header of the included message, remove the bloody
header!
(exiting vision: small, furry bear with small wisps of plaid smoke issuing
from ears...)
--
From the house at Pooh Corner: Chuq 'Nuke Wobegon' Von Rospach
{fortune,menlo70}!nsc!chuqui Have you hugged your Pooh today?
What's it feel like to have not done it for 200 years?
204, if you count my marriage... --- woody allen, sleeperstan@teltone.UUCP () (02/22/84)
Why doesn't somebody just modify postnews so that when someone tries to post a message to a given newsgroup, a message is printed out before hand. If the message is short, it shouldn't hurt anybody to see the message every time an article is posted. You could even set things up so the person sees the message only once. The message printed would describe what the newsgroup is for, and allow the user to abort postnews if he/she discovers this is the wrong group. One could set up a directory named /usr/lib/news/notices. In that directory would be one shell script for each newsgroup for which a message should be printed. The shell script would echo a short message to the user and then prompt for input, the response reflected in the exit code of the shell script. Postnews would prompt for the newsgroup line, run the shell script(s) for the newsgroup(s), and continue on if the exit code indicated OK status. If the user's response was to abort, then tell him/her where to find info. on which newsgroups to post to. I could do all this myself, but maybe someone in a more *official* position should do it (if they felt it was worthwhile, that is).
chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (02/23/84)
Getting news to remind people of appropriate use has possibilities, and the
structure is at least partially in place in the 'recordings' software, which
is unfortunately broken in many ways. Also, it doesn't particularly handle
multiple postings well, and many people dislike being bbitched at everytime
they do something. The proper way to handle it is to get people to read the
documents on news before they post away at it, and to THINK about what they
are doing before they do it. These, of course, are unreasonable goals
because they assume that the users have enough intelligence to be
reasonable (I'm kidding, users... really!). What really needs to happen is
to make sure that usenet administrators make the documents available and
are willing to take an active enough part in the net to answer questions at
their site. As I have found out from my discussions with the mistake
makers, all too often the net simply sits there, and nobody knows who to
ask questions of or where to get reading material... When that happens,
it's no wonder they make mistakes....
chuq
--
From the house at Pooh Corner: Chuq 'Nuke Wobegon' Von Rospach
{fortune,menlo70}!nsc!chuqui Have you hugged your Pooh today?
Yo, Ho! Yo, Ho! A pirates life for me...fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (02/28/84)
(oo)
I'm sick and tired of seeing this kind of officious preaching.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fish