Re: CFD: Change in FAQ ads policy

From: bampton@interlego.cs.utk.edu (Howard the Energizer)

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000

In article <19970724064801.CAA09606@ladder02.news.aol.com> kmgraphiks@aol.com (KMGraphiks) writes:
>
>IMHO you and the other traditionalists are too concerned with policying
>the newsgroup. It seems you want to have everything down in black&white,
>following every possible usenet rule and tradition so that if there is
>some infraction (in your minds) you can document all the "evidence" and go
>to an ISP to have the scoundrel excommunicated. I don't believe this is
>necessary.

Go look at any of the alt.* groups, say alt.sources. Notice all the
spam that is there. Notice all the people asking for stuff that has
nothing to do with source code? Notice the FAQ that clearly states what
the group is for. Note that many of the spammers do not post with valid
addresses so 95% of the offended people won't be able to complain to
the correct parties.

Several years ago (before Delphi, the web, AOL and the like were on
the 'net) that group had a pretty good sound to noise ratio. Not any
longer! (Yes, this puts me in the "traditionalist" group by your
reconining).

> The
>purpose of the FAQ should be to WELCOME the uninitiated into the ng, not
>to hand them a dress code that they will be held accountable for. I
>predict the future growth of PBEM will be with the internet newbies who
>have just discovered our world. We want them to feel welcome not
>intimidated by unenforceable rules or insulted by internet and usenet
>veterans.

Most people with common sense do one of two things when they get on
the web, a mailing list, or a news group. They lurk for a while until
they determine what is acceptable, or they search for a FAQ that
covers such things.

Howard
--
$1000 plus $1 per byte fee for proofing commercial mail sent to me.
Howard Bampton   bampton@cs.utk.edu        http://www.cs.utk.edu/~bampton/
System Administrator, Stibo Datagraphics   Fight spam: http://www.cauce.org/

References

Re: CFD: Change in FAQ ads policy
kmgraphiks@aol.com (KMGraphiks)
Thu, 24 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: CFD: Change in FAQ ads policy
lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl)
Thu, 24 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000