Mailing list rules

From CLUG Wiki

Contents 1 General Rules 1.1 Content 1.2 Netiquette (Method) 2 Specific Rules 2.1 CLUG-Announce 2.2 CLUG-Tech 2.3 CLUG-Chat 2.4 CLUG-Work 2.5 CLUG-Noise

General Rules

Content

1. Be Polite
2. No Politics or Religion
   • including anti-Microsoft / anti-Telkom ranting
3. Off Topic messages are not permitted.
4. Don't post me too! emails - they are not useful in any way
5. Don't post Thank you emails
   • Send them directly to the person - not to the list unless they contain additional information that would be useful to anyone following the thread.
   • Also, messages like "Thanks, I will try this" are not useful. Rather try it first, and then report back on whether it worked or not.
6. No Press Releases.

Netiquette (Method)

1. Be polite
   • Remember your email is being read by hundreds of people.
   • "Flaming" is far less useful than posting a good solution to a problem.
   • Don't post questions too often.
2. Don't start a new thread / discussion by replying to an old email
   • Decent email programs will consider your message to be part of the old thread and most CLUG members won't see your message.
   • Changing the subject isn't enough - there are headers in your message that link to the one you replied to.
3. Don't perpetuate long threads unneccessarily
   • We have lots of members but that doesn't mean we all want to read 3 screenfulls of mail every day
4. Research your topic before you post
   • If googling the subject line of your message answers the question, you shouldn't have posted the message :-)
   • Search the CLUG mail archives
5. Write nice text emails
   1. Turn off HTML
      • We don't want fancy flashing colours and fonts - just your message.
   2. Limit lines to 70 characters
      • If you must use Outlook, you will have to use the Enter key to achieve this.
   3. Don't attach files
      • (except for small text files where relevent) - i.e. scripts
      • Rather put other files up on your website or the CLUG wiki.
   4. Edit Quoted Messages
      • Cut out irrelevent sections of the message you are replying to
      • Put your reply below the question (see Top posting)
   5. Choose a descriptive subject
      • i.e. none of "Help!", "Linux question", or "Re: Clug-tech digest, Vol 1 #490 - 19 msgs"
   6. Keep your signature short (under 4 lines)
      • No disclaimers please.
6. Don't Cross-post
   • That means don't send your email to more than one mailing list (any list, anywhere).

• See also RFC 1855 - the Netiquette RFC
• See also Configuring Mail Clients to Send Plain ASCII Text

Specific Rules

These rules are specific to each list.

CLUG-Announce

• Press Releases. We don't post press releases on principle, start your own announcements list.
  • However, we might announce events that are of interest to the community (e.g. discounted LPI exam sessions, and Geeky Parties)

CLUG-Tech

• Your message must be related to Linux or Free Software.
• It must be a technical question or answer.

CLUG-Chat

• Keep your messages relevant to Linux or free software.

CLUG-Work

• You are offering or looking for OSS-related work.

CLUG-Noise

• Your message should not fit under the charter of another list (that would undermine the other lists)
• Off Topic? What does that mean? :-) -- OT messages are the bread and butter of this list.
  • You may post about music events here.
  • You may post windows-related questions here.