woody@nntp-server.caltech.edu (William Edward Woody) (11/30/90)
In article <901@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM> gilmore@venice.sedd.trw.com (Larry Gilmore) writes: >... As far >as I'm concerned, the whiners can edit their KILL files and stop using >our bandwidth Okay, once again, from the top. USENET is a network supported principally by the participants and users of the network. Most of 'em are not-for-profit universities and government organizations; some of them are companies who compete in the market for your dollar. The network etiquette is simple: there is to be no blatant advertising of product or services. Why? Because the network is a non- for-profit organization, and it is not fair to ask the various universities and government organizations to carry advertising. Further, it is technically (emphasize 'technically') illegal for such advertising to be carried over a government network, which makes up a sizable chunk of USENET. However, in a group such as this, where we are constantly discussing products every day, the line gets a bit fuzzy. It seems to me that the lines should be drawn as such: If I ask for recommendations for a product, I should expect all sorts of responces from "well, I dunno, but I think X is good" to "Hi. I am here from Nessus. I am here to help you." This is not a problem; after all, I asked for recommendations--I opened the floodgate for ads. If people don't want to read the resulting ad thread, they are welcome to kill it. If I ask how to do something with a product, there are three types of responces. The first type is the reply "oh, you do it this way". This is good; this is what I wanted. If I get a reply "well, your product can't do it, so you may have to buy X", and the reply comes from someone who does not directly or indirectly benefit from the profits of selling more product X, then it is boarderline good. It's not quite what I wanted, but it is informative. And it technically is not an ad as the person who told me about X doesn't stand to profit. If I get a reply "well, your product can't do it, so you will need to buy X", and the reply comes from someone who stands to profit (either directly--a software publisher, or indirectly--they are a programmer and their small company needs the exposure), then it is bad. The problem here is that by definition, that is an ad (ie: a posting for a service or product which stands to make the poster profit). And in the case where a poster keeps saying "please try X" when he stands to make a profit (either directly or indirectly), it is just outright obnoxious -- according to my understanding of net etiquette. Just my 2 bits, -- Bill -- William Edward Woody | Disclamer: USNAIL P.O.Box 50986; Pasadena, CA 91115 | EMAIL woody@tybalt.caltech.edu | The useful stuff in this message ICBM 34 08' 44''N x 118 08' 41''W | was only line noise.
fc156111@seas.gwu.edu (Timothy A. Waire Jr.) (12/01/90)
Where do I get a free demo disk??? I would definitely like to review this product in full functionality before I choose which word processor to migrate to. Thanks in advance! -- Timothy A. Waire, Jr. (Whitegold) Executive Office of the President INTERNET: fc156111@seas.gwu.edu Office of Management & Budget The George Washington University Washington, D.C. 20503 Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (202) 395-4922