Please, take a break and read Jonathan Leffler's "Eleven FAQ's About
comp.databases.informix and informix-list_at_iiug.org" in
news://comp.databases.informix - many of his thougths comply also to
this newsgroup.
here's an extract:
FAQ 5 - What Rules Exist Regarding Format, Content, Flame Wars, etc.
None; this is a news group! That is, there are no rules enforced by the
software. There are periodically discussions on c.d.i about what should
and should not be said. This is my FAQ, so it gets my spin on the rules
that should be followed.
- Format: HTML postings are strongly discouraged; so are MIME
postings. Both cause problems with many frequently used news
readers. That means that attachments aren't encouraged either.
Also, sending the same information twice, once in HTML and once in
plain text is downright wasteful.
- Content: straight technical answers to questions don't need any
special treatment. When the subject under discussion changes
sufficiently that the subject is no longer accurate, it is courteous
to change the subject. The standard, time-honoured NetNews
technique is "New Subject (was: Old Subject)". There is a strong
tendency for discussions in c.d.i to veer from the technical into
jocular commentary, often about the participants. It is courteous
to change the thread subject when you do this, and the standard
method used in most news groups is to add 'OT' to indicate
'off-topic' content. Marking off-topic messages makes it easier for
those who don't want to read the banter to avoid it. If you feel
compelled to put technical content into a thread currently marked
off-topic, remove the tag.
- Quoting Posts: when you respond to a post, please trim as much of
the quoted material as possible. However, do include enough of the
question to ensure that your answer is comprehensible. Leave out
the signature blocks (especially the obnoxiously irrelevant ones
about how you should not abuse this message if it was sent to you in
error) and any superfluous content. Be careful about misattributing
information to the wrong poster.
- OCR - original content ratio. Dr Pablo has taken to posting a
summary once a month of who has posted what in the news group. One
of the statistics is the OCR. Don't worry too much about the
statistic, but in general, the higher the OCR of your postings, the
better. An OCR of 100% probably means that you are either only
asking questions (which is OK), or you are not quoting any of the
question in your answer (which is not such a good idea unless your
answers indicate clearly what the questions said). An OCR under
about 10% means you should be trimming the original content a lot
more than you are. Anywhere in the middle and you are unlikely show
up in the statistics at the end of the month.
- Versions: it is often helpful to include platform and version
information for the software you are using. For example: Sun
Solaris 7, IDS 9.30.UC1, CSDK 2.70.UC1. With Linux, both the
version of the kernel and the version of the GLIBC library are
relevant. It is often helpful to identify 64-bit hardware.
- Flame Wars: Don't! For the most part, the c.d.i group manages to
maintain a civilized discourse (even with the contributors who work
for Oracle) and ad hominem flame wars are strongly discouraged.
- Banter: largely covered under content. Banter cannot be prevented.
Once you've been reading c.d.i for a week or two, it will be obvious
that banter figures quite prominently in the content (and usually
without any off-topic tag). Banter should be limited - more limited
than it is (there speaks The Curmudgeon who is not entirely in tune
with the regular posters of banter). Do it judiciously. If you do
indulge, make sure you trim the quoted content of messages to the
minimum and add the OT marker; someone passing two lines of jocular
remarks on a posting of several hundred lines of quoted material is
being discourteous to the other users of both c.d.i and the Internet
in general.
- Cross-posting: is not encouraged. Cross-posting outside the
comp.databases news group hierarchy is very seldom acceptable.
- Spam: don't do it. When spam postings arrive (they do), ignore
them. There isn't anything else that is truly effective. Do not
use the services or buy the products of companies that spam. From
July 2002 onwards, there has been an outbreak of the Nigeria bank
scam - lots of money for you if you allow them to use your bank
account to transfer money through it. Do not give them your bank
account information; you will (probably) lose lots of money.
Serge Rielau wrote:
> None of the newsgrous involved here are moderated. Nonetheless maybe it
> is reasonable to point out that the ratio of flame/content in either
> newsgroup affects the value the community can draw from it.
> Over the years the Oracle and IBM employees covering the groups and many
> of the "regular users" have somehow found a more or less stable truce
> (with occasional border skirmishes - often cloaked in humor) in the
> newsgroups.
> Call it an unwritten memorandum of understanding allowing to keep each
> other honest, to dispel myths, and last but not least to learn.
> I would hate to see this status quo being destroyed by turning these
> groups into an open marketing battle ground.
>
> Just my 2 cents (Canadian)
> Serge
Received on Wed Jan 26 2005 - 12:35:09 CST
