[SpamCop-List] Re: News Admin: Newsgroup Charter?

[michael lefevre]

"Sue Morton" <AppyFace3000> wrote in message
news:95cim4$6tu$1
[snip]
> I believe I mentioned in my post that many of us read that stuff but have
no
> frame of reference with which to understand it.  You guys have been neck
> deep in this for awhile.  But many of us are confused by what we see,
having
> no experience with it (and do other things with our time than study it.
Not
> your fault, but there it is).  So we blindly ask for help, offer as much
> evidence as we think would be of benefit, and hope for enlightenment.  As
we
> learn and things become clear, we find it easier to understand what the
FAQ
> has been saying all along.  Not everyone that uses a PC is a "Computer
> Professional" or has even had a basic windows class.  But we are all
trying
> to fight spam.

i do take your general point... to be honest, i think people who don't have
a basic grasp of windows (or whatever system they're using), they probably
should concentrate on picking up those basics before they attempt to start
fighting spam... users that are a bit more advanced should be able to pick
up the basics from that web page and the FAQ... if they can't, then the web
page and/or FAQ need to be improved...

> I didn't advocate an 'end-all be-all' posting.  In fact, I mentioned these
> should be brief.

well that's agreed then :)

> I am a regular user of this newsgroup.  Please don't speak for me that I
> would be the only one to benefit or would be irritated.  In fact, I
politely
> suggest you speak only for yourself.

these groups have quite a high level of traffic - one short, crossposted
message isn't going to irritate me... it should be designed with a subject
that's easy to killfile if regulars wish to avoid seeing it...

> Regarding the new user, I believe I mentioned in my post that I didn't
think
> the Charter would not help with the problem of new people posting
'wrongly'.
> I 'hung out' for a bit before making a first post.  Perhaps I would have
> seen the Charter before making that errant post if it was introduced to
the
> ng often enough.  Perhaps, though, I still would not have understood it
and
> made the same mistakes.  I do not know.

i'm afraid your hanging out before posting is, while admirable, rather
exceptional...

> They
> mention things like whether there is a mailing list ("so please snip
quoted
> material on replies down to just the part you are discussing"), simple
rules
> ("only attachments under 40k are allowed") etc.  Very small and
> straightforward, and they refer a to website page for full details with
full
> explanations.  As things change I am kept informed.  I like that.

the existance of a mailing list and those kind of rules are mentioned on the
web page, but there's admittedly no detail or explanation...

i'm not sure how much a regular (say, weekly?) FAQ pointer would help, but i
feel it would do more good than harm... as long as it doesn't mis-represent
anything, i don't imagine Julian or JT would have any strenuous objection to
someone posting it... is that right guys?

likewise improvements to the FAQ... if someone writes them and they're good,
then Julian usually puts them in... volunteers?

michael