Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 12:12:06 -0500 From: Bob Johnson <bob@eng.ufl.edu> To: ajh3@chmod.ath.cx Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Mailing List Suggestions Message-ID: <3AC0C9E6.FE97100A@eng.ufl.edu>
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> Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 18:28:37 -0600 > From: Andrew Hesford <ajh3@chmod.ath.cx> > Subject: Mailing List Suggestions > > Hello, > > I've been following freebsd-questions for a few weeks now. I have begun > to notice certain recurring message formats. It occurs to me that > - -questions might be a bit cleaner and easier to follow if we all follow > a few guidelines: > [...] > 2. When replying to posts, please type your response BEFORE the included > original message. This allows people who have followed the thread from > its inception to not have to hunt through text he's already seen. This is contrary to accepted practice, except when you are replying to short messages. For long messages you need to include your comments in-line so they will have proper context. [...] > 7. I imagine this will be the point to generate the most disagreement, > but please don't have the contents of long files in the message body. If > long files (e.g., kernel configs) are attached rather than pasted in, > people who aren't interested don't have to read the files. Furthermore, > if there are changes that can be made to files, readers can easily save > the attachment, edit it, and send it back to the original poster. You're right. This will be controversial, because no matter what you do, it doesn't work for everyone. If you include attachments, do not encode them (base-64 or whatever) or those of us who get the digest version will probably ignore them. For some mail readers there seems to be no easy way to force attachments to be plain text, so you may need to put files in-line to make them readable to people who subscribe to the list digest. > > Naturally, I follow all these guidelines, because I created them. :) > However, I know my posting habits are not perfect in the eyes of others, > and would be interested in hearing what you all think about these rules. > Perhaps we can generate a good compromise, and have majordomo send out > the guidelines to all new subscribers? I believe some guidelines get posted to this list regularly, although it may not be as regular as I thought I remembered. ;) The important thing to remember is that when you are asking volunteers to help you, it pays to make it as easy as possible on the volunteers. So, another approach to guidelines for the list is to remember that: - This list gets hundreds of messages a day. Few people read every question and answer. Many people on this list only read messages with subject lines they think they can help with. A good subject line is important. - Few people are going to remember the contents of your previous question when you post a followup question. Include some context. - If you send followups to an individual instead of to the list, you eliminate any chance that someone else on the list will provide additional help. Post followups to the list. - Many people who post questions are not subscribed to the list, so if you answer a question, always send a copy of your answer directly to the poster. - Many of the most experienced users on this list use traditional Unix email readers. This means they don't read HTML, and they don't like lines longer than 80 characters (besides, HTML email is a major virus just waiting to happen). It's your choice whether to try to force them to "get with the times", but remember, you are asking for free help from people whose time is valuable. - Bob To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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