About This Document
This document describes the Usenet culture and customs that have developed
over time. All new users should read this document to acclimate themselves
to Usenet. (Old users could read it, too, to refresh their memories.)
It is the people participating in Usenet that make it worth the effort
to read and maintain this document. For Usenet to function properly those
people must be able to interact in productive ways. This document is intended
as a guide to using the net in ways that will be pleasant and productive
for everyone.
Starting Up
This document is not intended to teach you how to use Usenet. Instead,
it is a guide to using it politely, effectively and efficiently. Communication
by computer is new to almost everybody, and there are certain aspects that
can make it a frustrating experience until you get used to them. This document
should help you avoid the worst traps.
The easiest way to learn how to use Usenet is to watch how others use
it. Start reading the news and try to figure out what people are doing
and why. After a couple of weeks you will start understanding why certain
things are done and what things shouldn't be done. There are documents
available describing the technical details of how to use the software.
These are different depending on which programs you use to access the
news.
Never Forget that the Person on the Other Side
is Human
Because your interaction with the network is through a computer it is
easy to forget that there are people "out there." Situations arise where
emotions erupt into a verbal free-for-all that can lead to hurt feelings.
Please remember that people all over the world are reading your words.
Do not attack people if you cannot persuade them with your presentation
of the facts. Screaming, cursing, and abusing others only serves to make
people think less of you and less willing to help you when you need it.
If you are upset at something or someone, wait until you have had a chance
to calm down and think about it. A cup of (decaf!) coffee or a good night's
sleep works wonders on your perspective. Hasty words create more problems
than they solve. Try not to say anything to others you would not say to
them in person in a room full of people.
Don't Blame System Admins for their Users' Behavior
Sometimes, you may find it necessary to write to a system administrator
about something concerning his or her site. Maybe it is a case of the software
not working, or a control message escaped, or maybe one of the users at
that site has done something you feel requires comment. No matter how steamed
you may be, be polite to the sysadmin -- he or she may not have any idea
of what you are going to say, and may not have any part in the incidents
involved. By being civil and temperate, you are more likely to obtain their
courteous attention and assistance.
Never assume that a person is speaking for their
organization
Many people who post to Usenet do so from machines at their office or
school. Despite that, never assume that the person is speaking for the organization
that they are posting their articles from (unless the person explicitly
says so). Some people put explicit disclaimers to this effect in their messages,
but this is a good general rule. If you find an article offensive, consider
taking it up with the person directly, or ignoring it. Learn about "kill
files" in your newsreader, and other techniques for ignoring people whose
postings you find offensive.
Be Careful What You Say About Others
Please remember -- you read netnews; so do as many as 3,000,000 other
people. This group quite possibly includes your boss, your friend's boss,
your girl friend's brother's best friend and one of your father's beer buddies.
Information posted on the net can come back to haunt you or the person you
are talking about.
Think twice before you post personal information about yourself or others.
This applies especially strongly to groups like soc.singles and alt.sex
but even postings in groups like talk.politics.misc have included information
about the personal life of third parties that could get them into serious
trouble if it got into the wrong hands.
Be Brief
Never say in ten words what you can say in fewer. Say it succinctly
and it will have a greater impact. Remember that the longer you make your
article, the fewer people will bother to read it.
Your Postings Reflect Upon You
Most people on Usenet will know you only by what you say and how well
you say it. They may someday be your co-workers or friends. Take some time
to make sure each posting is something that will not embarrass you later.
Minimize your spelling errors and make sure that the article is easy to
read and understand. Writing is an art and to do it well requires practice.
Since much of how people judge you on the net is based on your writing,
such time is well spent.
Use Descriptive Titles
The subject line of an article is there to enable a person with a limited
amount of time to decide whether or not to read your article. Tell people
what the article is about before they read it. A title like "Car for Sale"
to rec.autos does not help as much as "66 MG Midget for sale: Beaverton
OR." Don't expect people to read your article to find out what it is about
because many of them won't bother. Some sites truncate the length of the
subject line to 40 characters so keep your subjects short and to the point.
Think About Your Audience
When you post an article, think about the people you are trying to reach.
Asking UNIX(*) questions on rec.autos will not reach as many of the people
you want to reach as if you asked them on comp.unix.questions or comp.unix.internals.
Try to get the most appropriate audience for your message, not the widest.
It is considered bad form to post both to misc.misc, soc.net-people,
or misc.wanted and to some other newsgroup. If it belongs in that other
newsgroup, it does not belong in misc.misc, soc.net-people, or misc.wanted.
If your message is of interest to a limited geographic area (apartments,
car sales, meetings, concerts, etc...), restrict the distribution of the
message to your local area. Some areas have special newsgroups with geographical
limitations, and the recent versions of the news software allow you to
limit the distribution of material sent to world-wide newsgroups.
If you want to try a test of something, do not use a world-wide newsgroup!
Messages in misc.misc that say "This is a test" are likely to cause large
numbers of caustic messages to flow into your mailbox. There are newsgroups
that are local to your computer or area that should be used.
Be familiar with the group you are posting to before you post! You shouldn't
post to groups you do not read, or post to groups you've only read a few
articles from -- you may not be familiar with the on-going conventions
and themes of the group. One normally does not join a conversation by
just walking up and talking. Instead, you listen first and then join in
if you have something pertinent to contribute.
Be Careful with Humor and Sarcasm
Without the voice inflections and body language of personal communications,
it is easy for a remark meant to be funny to be misinterpreted. Subtle humor
tends to get lost, so take steps to make sure that people realize you are
trying to be funny. The net has developed a symbol called the smiley face.
It looks like ":-)" and points out sections of articles with humorous intent.
No matter how broad the humor or satire, it is safer to remind people that
you are being funny.
But also be aware that quite frequently satire is posted without any
explicit indications. If an article outrages you strongly, you should
ask yourself if it just may have been unmarked satire. Several self-proclaimed
connoisseurs refuse to use smiley faces, so take heed or you may make
a temporary fool of yourself.
Only Post a Message Once
Avoid posting messages to more than one newsgroup unless you are sure
it is appropriate. If you do post to multiple newsgroups, do not post to
each group separately. Instead, specify all the groups on a single copy
of the message. This reduces network overhead and lets people who subscribe
to more than one of those groups see the message once instead of having
to wade through each copy.
Please Rotate Messages With Questionable Content
Certain newsgroups (such as rec.humor) have messages in them that may
be offensive to some people. To make sure that these messages are not read
unless they are explicitly requested, these messages should be encrypted.
The standard encryption method is to rotate each letter by thirteen characters
so that an "a" becomes an "n". This is known on the network as "rot13" and
when you rotate a message the word "rot13" should be in the "Subject:" line.
Most of the software used to read Usenet articles have some way of encrypting
and decrypting messages. Your system administrator can tell you how the
software on your system works, or you can use the Unix command
tr '[a-m][n-z][A-M][N-Z]' '[n-z][a-m][N-Z][A-M]'
Don't forget the single quotes!)
Summarize What You are Following Up
When you are following up someone's article, please summarize the parts
of the article to which you are responding. This allows readers to appreciate
your comments rather than trying to remember what the original article said.
It is also possible for your response to get to some sites before the original
article.
Summarization is best done by including appropriate quotes from the original
article. Do not include the entire article since it will irritate the
people who have already seen it. Even if you are responding to the entire
article, summarize only the major points you are discussing.
When Summarizing, Summarize!
When you request information from the network, it is common courtesy
to report your findings so that others can benefit as well. The best way
of doing this is to take all the responses that you received and edit them
into a single article that is posted to the places where you originally
posted your question. Take the time to strip headers, combine duplicate
information, and write a short summary. Try to credit the information to
the people that sent it to you, where possible.
Read All Follow-ups and Don't Repeat What Has
Already Been Said
Before you submit a follow-up to a message, read the rest of the messages
in the newsgroup to see whether someone has already said what you want to
say. If someone has, don't repeat it.
Check the Headers When Following Up
The news software has provisions to specify that follow-ups to an article
should go to a specific set of newsgroups -- possibly different from the
newsgroups to which the original article was posted. Sometimes the groups
chosen for follow-ups are totally inappropriate, especially as a thread
of discussion changes with repeated postings. You should carefully check
the groups and distributions given in the header and edit them as appropriate.
If you change the groups named in the header, or if you direct follow-ups
to a particular group, say so in the body of the message -- not everyone
reads the headers of postings.
Be Careful About Copyrights and Licenses
Once something is posted onto the network, it is *probably* in the public
domain unless you own the appropriate rights (most notably, if you wrote
the thing yourself) and you post it with a valid copyright notice; a court
would have to decide the specifics and there are arguments for both sides
of the issue. Now that the US has ratified the Berne convention, the issue
is even murkier (if you are a poster in the US). For all practical purposes,
though, assume that you effectively give up the copyright if you don't put
in a notice. Of course, the *information* becomes public, so you mustn't
post trade secrets that way.
When posting material to the network, keep in mind that material that
is UNIX-related may be restricted by the license you or your company signed
with AT&T and be careful not to violate it. You should also be aware
that posting movie reviews, song lyrics, or anything else published under
a copyright could cause you, your company, or members of the net community
to be held liable for damages, so we highly recommend caution in using
this material.
Cite Appropriate References
If you are using facts to support a cause, state where they came from.
Don't take someone else's ideas and use them as your own. You don't want
someone pretending that your ideas are theirs; show them the same respect.
Mark or Rotate Answers and Spoilers
When you post something (like a movie review that discusses a detail
of the plot) which might spoil a surprise for other people, please mark
your message with a warning so that they can skip the message. Another alternative
would be to use the "rot13" protocol to encrypt the message so it cannot
be read accidentally. When you post a message with a spoiler in it make
sure the word "spoiler" is part of the "Subject:" line.
Spelling Flames Considered Harmful
Every few months a plague descends on Usenet called the spelling flame.
It starts out when someone posts an article correcting the spelling or grammar
in some article. The immediate result seems to be for everyone on the net
to turn into a 6th grade English teacher and pick apart each other's postings
for a few weeks. This is not productive and tends to cause people who used
to be friends to get angry with each other.
It is important to remember that we all make mistakes, and that there
are many users on the net who use English as a second language. There
are also a number of people who suffer from dyslexia and who have difficulty
noticing their spelling mistakes. If you feel that you must make a comment
on the quality of a posting, please do so by mail, not on the network.
Don't Overdo Signatures
Signatures are nice, and many people can have a signature added to their
postings automatically by placing it in a file called "$HOME/.signature".
Don't overdo it. Signatures can tell the world something about you, but
keep them short. A signature that is longer than the message itself is considered
to be in bad taste. The main purpose of a signature is to help people locate
you, not to tell your life story. Every signature should include at least
your return address relative to a major, known site on the network and a
proper domain-format address. Your system administrator can give this to
you. Some news posters attempt to enforce a 4 line limit on signature files
-- an amount that should be more than sufficient to provide a return address
and attribution.
Limit Line Length and Avoid Control Characters
Try to keep your text in a generic format. Many (if not most) of the
people reading Usenet do so from 80 column terminals or from workstations
with 80 column terminal windows. Try to keep your lines of text to less
than 80 characters for optimal readability. If people quote part of your
article in a followup, short lines will probably show up better, too.
Also realize that there are many, many different forms of terminals in
use. If you enter special control characters in your message, it may result
in your message being unreadable on some terminal types; a character sequence
that causes reverse video on your screen may result in a keyboard lock
and graphics mode on someone else's terminal. You should also try to avoid
the use of tabs, too, since they may also be interpreted differently on
terminals other than your own.
Please do not use Usenet as an advertising medium
Advertisements on Usenet are rarely appreciated. In general, the louder
or more inappropriate the ad is, the more antagonism it will stir up.
Avoid posting to multiple newsgroups
Few things annoy Usenet readers as much as multiple copies of a posting
appearing in multiple newsgroups. (called 'spamming' for historical reasons)
A posting that is cross-posted (i.e lists multiple newsgroups on the Newsgroups:
header line) to a few appropriate newsgroups is fine, but even with cross-posts,
restraint is advised. For a cross-post, you may want to set the Followup-To:
header line to the most suitable group for the rest of the discussion.
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