173 lines
8.2 KiB
HTML
173 lines
8.2 KiB
HTML
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML><HEAD>
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<title>The Answer Gang's Posting Guidelines LG #73</title>
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<A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/">
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<IMG ALT="LINUX GAZETTE" SRC="../gx/lglogo.png"
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WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="124" border="0"></A>
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<IMG ALT="" SRC="../gx/navbar/left.jpg" WIDTH="14" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"><A HREF="mwaikambo.html"><IMG ALT="[ Prev ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/prev.jpg" WIDTH="16" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"></A><A HREF="index.html"><IMG ALT="[ Table of Contents ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/toc.jpg" WIDTH="220" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom" ></A><A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALT="[ Front Page ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/frontpage.jpg" WIDTH="137" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"></A><A HREF="http://www.linuxgazette.com/cgi-bin/talkback/all.py?site=LG&article=http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue73/okopnik.html"><IMG ALT="[ Talkback ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/talkback.jpg" WIDTH="121" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom" ></A><A HREF="../faq/index.html"><IMG ALT="[ FAQ ]" SRC="./../gx/navbar/faq.jpg"WIDTH="62" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom"></A><A HREF="orr.html"><IMG ALT="[ Next ]" SRC="../gx/navbar/next.jpg" WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="45" BORDER="0" ALIGN="bottom" ></A><IMG ALT="" SRC="../gx/navbar/right.jpg" WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="45" ALIGN="bottom">
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<H4 ALIGN="center">
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<H1><font color="maroon">The Answer Gang's Posting Guidelines</font></H1>
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<H4>By <a href="mailto:ben-fuzzybear@yahoo.com">Ben Okopnik</a></H4>
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This article describes the things that you need to do when posting to TAG
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in order to maximize the chances of getting meaningful replies to your
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inquiry. This should also prevent you from getting laughed at for being
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lazy and trying to have others do work that you yourself should be doing.
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It draws heavily on Tad McClellan's
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<A HREF="http://mail.augustmail.com/~tadmc/clpmisc/clpmisc_guidelines.text">
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Posting Guidelines for comp.lang.perl.misc</A>
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and the
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<A HREF="http://andrew2.andrew.cmu.edu/rfc/rfc1855.html">Netiquette Guidelines RFC</A>.
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<H2>Before Posting</H2>
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<H4>You Must</H4>
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<UL>
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<LI> Check the LG and TAG FAQs
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<LI> Check the list of HOWTOs for anything relevant
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</UL>
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<H4>You Really, Really Should</H4>
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<UL>
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<LI> Search previous issue of LG for relevant answers
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</UL>
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<H4>If You Like</H4>
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<UL>
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<LI> Check Other Resources (books, STFW, etc.)
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</UL>
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<H2>Posting to TAG</H2>
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<UL>
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<LI> Question should be about Linux, or of interest to Linux community
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<LI> Carefully choose the contents of your Subject header
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<LI> Beware of saying "doesn't work"
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<LI> Use an effective followup style
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<LI> Provide enough, but not too much information
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<LI> Do not post binaries, HTML, or MIME
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<LI> If your message contains any "confidential" or "for recipient only" conditions
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(these are sometimes added automatically on a site-wide basis), you must give us explicit
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permission to publish in your e-mail. Otherwise we cannot answer you.
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(But asking for your name not to be published <EM>is</EM> OK.)
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</UL>
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<P> As you would expect, The Answer Gang's discussions are usually technical in
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nature; hence, there is a strong need to observe conventions for conduct in
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these discussions.
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<P> Checking the FAQs before posting is required in Net forums in general;
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there is nothing TAG-specific about this requirement.
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<P> There can be hundreds of messages in TAG in any given month. We all must
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decide somehow which ones we are going to answer. Your post is in
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competition with all the other posts. You need to "win" before a person who
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can help you will even try.
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<P> You have 40 precious characters of Subject in which to make your first
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impression. Spend them indicating what problem we can expect to find in
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your query. Don't waste them indicating "experience level" (guru,
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newbie...) Don't waste them pleading (please read, urgent, help!...) Don't
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waste them on non-subjects (Linux question, Could I ask a question?...)
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<P> Part of the beauty of Net forum dynamics is that you can contribute to
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the community with your very first post! If your choice of subject
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leads a fellow searcher to find the thread you are starting, then even
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asking a question helps us all.
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<P> When composing a followup, quote only enough text to establish the
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context for the comments that you will add. Always indicate who wrote
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the quoted material. Don't quote the entire article.
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<P> Intersperse your comments *following* the sections of quoted text that your
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comments apply to. Failure to do this is called "Jeopardy" posting because
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the answer comes before the question. Reversing the chronology of the
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dialog (putting your response before the quoted text) makes it much harder
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to understand; some folks won't even read it if written that way. For more
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information on quoting style, see:
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<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/nnqweb/nquote.html">http://www.geocities.com/nnqweb/nquote.html</A>
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<P> Email is a <EM>text only</EM> medium. Don't post Word documents, vcards, HTML, or
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MIME (unless MIME is necessary to preserve your language's specific
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characters.) Many people will not be able to easily read your post, and
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thus will not bother. Plain text is something everyone can read.
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<P> Published answers benefit the entire community; this is what we do here in
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TAG. If you have a "This is to be kept confidential" blurb in your post,
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forget about having it answered: it just isn't going to happen. Don't
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expect people to do one-on-one problem resolution unless you're willing to
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pay for it.
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<P> Beware of saying "doesn't work". This is a "red flag" phrase. If you find
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yourself writing that, pause and see if you can't describe what is not
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working without saying "doesn't work". That is, describe how it is not what
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you want.
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<!-- *** BEGIN bio *** -->
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<SPACER TYPE="vertical" SIZE="30">
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<P>
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<H4><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="" SRC="../gx/note.gif">Ben Okopnik</H4>
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<EM>A cyberjack-of-all-trades, Ben wanders the world in his 38' sailboat, building
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networks and hacking on hardware and software whenever he runs out of cruising
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money. He's been playing and working with computers since the Elder Days
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(anybody remember the Elf II?), and isn't about to stop any time soon.</EM>
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<!-- *** BEGIN copyright *** -->
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<P> <hr> <!-- P -->
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<H5 ALIGN=center>
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Copyright © 2001, Ben Okopnik.<BR>
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Copying license <A HREF="../copying.html">http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html</A><BR>
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Published in Issue 73 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, December 2001</H5>
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