"There are no hard-and-fast Rules on Usenet,
only Guidelines"
-- net.legends FAQ
Obviously based on the Golden Rule and all the things you and I
learned as
toddlers, along with sharing our toys, and good overall netiquette,
not just
for afe. If you have any questions, your own suggestions to add, or
maybe a
major gripe, please contact me.
1. Read the articles on the newsgroup(s) for a few weeks or so before
you
post anything. This gives you an idea of the level of discussion
and
the sort of things expected on the newsgroup, as well as probably
telling
you what things not to discuss!
2. Try to quote only the relevant bits of a previously posted message.
This
saves wading through lots and lots of old stuff to get at what may
only
be a three line response. Excessive quoting annoys a lot of people,
and
wastes a lot of bandwidth.
3. Always try to ensure that the subject line is relevant to the
matter at
hand. If you take a thread on a totally different path (this
happens an
awful lot in afe!), so that you are talking about something that
has no
relevance to the original subject, please change the subject header
appropriately. This helps to keep some semblance of logic, and
certainly
helps avoid confusion.
4. ALWAYS read the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list), which is
posted
regularly to the newsgroup by Vanan. I also advise that, if you
have
access to the world wide web, you look at the FAQs section of the
afe
web site, which is athttp://www.afe.za.org/kell/.
If you don't
understand anything in the FAQ(s), ask the newsgroup, as Vanan and
the
various other maintainers have got enough to deal with in real life
without answering every question on their own.
A note here. The FAQ is definitely NOT the final word on any given
subject. The presence of a topic in the FAQ does not mean that it
should
never be discussed again on afe. However, you should try to ensure
that
you are bringing something new to the topic - the FAQ exists to
prevent
posters endlessly going over old ground.
Are there any rules for this newsgroup? The short answer is no: this
is
alt.* and there are no formal rules. Most people seem to agree that
this
is a pretty pleasant newsgroup with friendly people and fairly low
spam
and troll rations.
However, in order to ensure that things /stay/ friendly and relaxed,
there is a list of things we can all try to do, affectionately known
as the Ten Commandments:
01. Thou shalt not flame without malicious provocation. If someone
says
something that upsets you or that you disagree with, tell them
calmly, in polite language. Try not to resort to petty name-
calling
or personal attacks. Be Nice.
02. Thou shalt not viciously profane the works of thy authors David
and
Leigh Eddings. Not everybody likes all of D&LE's books. Come to
that,
not everybody likes /any/ of them. But don't come out with
belligerent
statements like "This book sucks!" Instead, state in intelligent,
mature language that you had problems with this or that particular
book or series, and explain why. Maybe there is even someone else
here
who can offer you a new perspective on it that will make you
appreciate
it more.
03. Thou shalt not utilize foul or offensive language, This one
follows
pretty logically from the other two. But what do I mean by "foul
or
offensive language"? Well, this is both a family newsgroup and an
international one. So, if you wouldn't say it in front of your
parents,
or your children, or in the presence of particular racial, ethnic
or
religious groups, don't say it here.
04. Thou shalt be kind and courteous to newcomers. afe has a fairly
good
reputation across Usenet for being friendly. Let's keep it that
way.
05. Thou shalt not deign to reply to obvious trolls. Trolls are
looking
for a reaction from readers. If we don't react, they go away.
06. Thou shalt use spoiler warnings where appropriate. If you're
talking
about recently published material or giving away plot details,
warn
people, in case they don't want the books ruined for them!
07. Thou shalt not make posts entirely in upper case. WHY? BECAUSE IT
MAKES THINGS DIFFICULT TO READ.
08. Thou shalt not start a spelling/grammar thread. Don't be pedantic
about people's grammar, except where it's inherently comical.
09. Thou shalt take part in the Trivia Quiz. (Subliminal Message).
10. Thou shalt read and note the FAQ. Oldbies should do this too;
check
the FAQ when it's posted for new information and additions.
With many thanks to Lenda, original author of the silver suggestions,
Aslade
who maintained them for so long, Aphrael and Simon Nickerson for the
Ten
Commandments, and Kamion for generalised pedantry.
Cheers, Itagne
--
Posted by the alt.fan.eddings Dispatch Daemon <mor...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Daemon Admin: Kamion <kam...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Reposted by The Queen. Don't Cross Her :)
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