🚀 go-pugleaf

Keith A. Glass wrote:
> 
> Promulgated for discussion: your comments are welcome.  I used Andy
> Reichert's
> 
> =======================================================================
> ==  DC.GENERAL.MODERATED  Newsgroup Posting Guidelines   ==
> ==  Version 0.99                                    14 Sept 1998     ==
> =======================================================================
> ==  Maintained by                 K.A. Glass <salgak@huskynet.com>   ==
> ==  Posting Frequency                                       Weekly   ==
> =======================================================================
> 
>      This document is intended to answer questions and clarify
> unofficial but generally accepted policies for the local USENET
> newsgroup titled 'dc.general.moderated'.
> 
>      If this document has been e-mailed to you, chances are that you
> have violated one of the generally accepted guidelines of
> 'dc.general.moderated'.  Most likely, you have posted an inappropriate
> out-of area message to the newsgroup.
> 
>      The author of this document makes no claims as to the accuracy of
> this document.  In short, it is provided "as is."  However, I have
> endeavored to keep it as factual and usable as possible, so please feel
> free to EMail  K.A. Glass (salgak@huskynet.com) with any comments you
> may
> have.
> 
>      This document is divided into two sections, as follows.  The
> disclaimers and such, including the copyright notice and appropriate
> licenses, appear at the end for easier access to the meaty stuff.
> 
> Part I - 'dc.general.moderated' related issues
> 
>      1.  What is 'dc.general.moderated'?
>           1.1 What is meant by "dc"?
>      2.  What kinds of posts are acceptable to 'dc.general.moderated'?
>      3.  What kinds of posts are unacceptable to 'dc.general.moderated'?
>           3.1 Possible ramifications of posting unacceptable material
>      4.  Discussion
>      5.  If my post is unsuitable for 'dc.general.moderated', where
> might
>          it better go?
>      6.  Abuse of dc.general.moderated and Ramifications
> 
> Part II - FAQ related issues
> 
>      1.  Who is the author of this document / who died and made him
>          king, boss, judge, etc.? / Why was this document written?
>      2.  General Disclaimer
>      3.  How is this document be distributed? (USENET, WWW, FTP, EMail)
>      4.  How may I distribute this document?
>      5.  Can I use this document as a basis of a document for my
>          (other, regional) newsgroup?
> 
> I.1  What is 'dc.general.moderated'?
> 
>      'dc.general.moderated' is a USENET newsgroup for
>      discussion of items of general interest specific to the
>      Washington, DC, Metropolitan area [see I.1.1] residents,
>      in an atmosphere free of excessive cross-posts.
> 
> 
> I.1.1 What is meant by "dc"?
> 
>      The "dc" of 'dc.general.moderated' is generally regarded as
> including the
>      city of Washington, D.C. and its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia,
>      as well as areas as distant as Baltimore, Maryland, and
> Fredericksburg,
>      Virginia.
> 
>      'dc.general.moderated' is a restricted conterpart to dc.general.
> 
>      It is very rare that a posting should include more than one
> *.general
>      newsgroup.  The essence of USENET is its' multiplicity of
> specialized
>      groups: we would ask that you USE the specialization.  Montgomery
> County
>      specialized events belong in md.mont.general, and so forth.  Use
> good
>      sense in narrowly defining your target audience to get the optimum
>      response from interested persons, and minimum response from those
> who
>      wonder why you're posting irrelevant information to a given
> group...

Um, regional issues might have their focus in one specific Greater Metro
jurisdiction, but ultimately have effects on all of us. Maybe we should have a
potential "live body" that can override or kill the 'bot in case of "special
situations"?

> 
> I.2 What kinds of posts are acceptable to 'dc.general.moderated'?
> 
>      'dc.general.moderated' is a robomoderated discussion group:
>      that is to say, we have software enforcing a few basic
>      rules for posts.  As of the date of this FAQ, the rules
>      are as follows:
> 
>       Any acceptable message must have:
>       - No more than 4 newsgroups total
>        (should weed out a lot of spam)
>       - No *.general other than dc, va, md, balt, md.pg, md.mont,
>         or wv (amendable if other local hierarchies appear)
>       - Posted to no other dc.* groups other than dc.general
>         (if it's not of general interest, why post it here ??)
>       - Not be cross-posted to any *.test
>         (to stop the occaisional net.joker)
> 
>       Any message that does not meet the criteria will be robomoderated.
>       You will note that we do not, at this point, suggest moderation
>       by topic, or the exclusion of net-abusers, trollers, or spammers.
>       This is not to say that we may not consider doing so at some time
>       in the future, if the noise level begins to drown out the
> newsgroup.
> 
>       Changes to bot moderation policy must be approved by the current
>       administrator(s) of the dc.hierarchy, and will be announced on
>       dc.general, dc.general.moderated, and dc.config at least 24 hours
>       prior to implementation
> 
> I.3 What kinds of posts are unacceptable to 'dc.general.moderated'?
> 
>      Posts that are DC metro area specific are inappropriate for
>      dc.general.moderated

What you mean, I take it, is: "posts which deal only with any single
jurisdiction in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area may be deemed
inappropriate for d.g.r". But then again, what if we see the District draging
down the rest of the area again? Hell, dc.general can take up that slack I
guess.

> 
>      Make-Money-Fast posts are considered scams.  As such, they will
>      be subject to immediate cancellation from the dc.jobs newsgroup.
> 
> 
>      Other types of posts considered inappropriate for the
>      dc.general.moderated newsgroup may be added at a later date.
>      Please consult this FAQ periodically for updates.
> 
> I.3.1 What are possible ramifications of posting inappropriate
> material?
> 
>      We KNOW that posting to a large number of regional groups
>      will undoubtedly give your post wider exposure and hence you will
>      have a better chance of finding someone to agree. . .or violently
>      disagree with your position. However, there are several reasons
>      why you shouldn't:
> 
>           - Imagine if everybody did.  The regional newsgroups would
>           become effectively mirrors of ALL the newsgroups.  The
>           Internet is a self-policing entity relying on the intelligence
>           and common sense of users to keep it afloat... and you would
>           be destructive rather than constructive.
> 
>           - As such, it is incredibly poor netiquette.
> 
>           - DC area administrators may take it upon themselves to
>           write a letter to your system administrator [root@.. or
>           postmaster@..] indicating your rudeness.  In turn, your
>           system administrator may, at their discretion, reduce your
>           Internet access, account privileges, etc.

Um, IxNay on this. If it's not clearly SPAM (mainly the commercial variety),
nobody needs to get TOSsed ("Terms-Of-Service" complaints to sysadmins) over a
multigroup posting. Once again, we want to keep the meat-being element out of
this as much as will be practicable, we want this 'bot-driven as much as
possible.

> 
>           - As mentioned at the top of this document, if you have had
>           this FAQ e-mailed to you, chances are that you have breached
>           rules of netiquette as perhaps outlined in this FAQ.  Please
>           take the information contained herein to heart, and let the
>           e-mail to you be considered a first and only warning.

If you want to take this tack, make sure tat it is intended to be applied only
to dc.general.moderated - okay?

> 
> I.4 Discussion
> 
>      For the most part, discussion in dc.jobs should be kept on, or at
>      least CLOSE to the original topic.  Intelligent, reasoned argument
>      is not only allowable, it is welcomed.  However, Flamewars,
> name-calling,
>      and similar behavior is not welcome.  And besides, this is only
> USENET:
>      getting worked up enough to blow gaskets over what somebody else
> wrote
>      just isn't worth the effort.  Relax.  Go for a walk. Get up, get a
> coke
>      and a bag of chips.  And leave the flaming for alt.flame. . .

this is appropriate to dc.jobs - but not really to dc.general or
dc.general.moderated, okay?

> 
> 
> I.5 If my post is unsuitable to 'dc.general.moderated', where might it
>     better go?
> 
>      Yes, we DO know that Washington, DC, is the capital of the United
>      States, and the seat of our Federal Government.  But
>      dc.general.moderated, as previously stated, is for discussions of
>      topics of LOCAL interest SPECIFIC to the DC Metro area.  And so...
> 
>      Political Issues dealing with various aspects and actions of
>      the FEDERAL government, including one's opinion of the President,
>      Senator such-and-such or your particular political viewpoint on
>      a national issue have other forums in which they are more
> appropriate.
>      We would suggest the alt.politics.* hierarchy, talk.politics.*, or
>      a localized *.politics newsgroup.
> 
>      Federal Policies regarding purely local issues (i.e. the Wilson
> Bridge,
>      the DC Financial Control Board, Home Rule, etc) are on topic here.
> But
>      discussions over your favorite political topic, such as abortion,
> Federal
>      gun control policy, etc. are not welcome here.  The users of
>      dc.moderated.general politely request that you post them elsewhere,
> in a
>      group dedicated to your particular axe to grind.  If you're still
> not sure
>      where to post, try a topic search at http://www.dejanews.com

There's always ging to be topic drift. But I'd agree that original postings as
described which are way off-topic should be remanded to those proper groups.

> 
> I.6 Abuse of dc.general.moderated and Ramifications
> 
>      When a user posts an item that is inappropriate to dc.jobs, that
> user
>      may receive a notice from the dc.general.moderated monitor which
>      includes text explaining the error, a copy of this FAQ for
> reference,
>      and a copy of the offending post.  Often, the error is an easy one
> to
>      fix.  In some cases, users may choose to ignore these notices and
>      continue to post inappropriatly, paying no heed to the guidelines
> for
>      the group.
> 
>      If it is determined that the user has no intention of following the
>      guidelines for the dc.general.moderated newsgroup, then the monitor
>      may take further action against posts from the user, including
>      cancelation of the user's posts.  In extreme cases, the user may be
>      entered into the robomoderation bot to cancel anything from the
> user in
>      the newsgroup.  Should this occur, the user must contact the
> monitor in
>      order to discuss the guidelines for dc.general.moderated, and to be
>      removed from the bot.

Um, this can only be attributed to really sloppy editing and rewriting, Keith.
Basically, IMHO if someone exceeds guidelines, the 'bot should mail them a
statement, possibly the (ideally very-rewritten final version of this)
FAQ/charter and they get told to resubmit.

1. In no case should anything out-of-spec make it past the 'bot, and thus no
cancels should be issued. Issuing cancels is a very touchy business.

2. If something does make it past the 'bot that needs to actually be
cancelled, that's a different issue.

3. Under no circumstances should any user be banned.

4. Under no circumstances should any post be cancelled for content, only for
crossposting (etc.) guidelines violations.
> 
> II.1 Who is the author of this document / Who died and made him
>      king / Why was this FAQ written.
> 
>      K.A. Glass <salgak@huskynet.com> maintains the
> 'dc.general.moderated'
>      version of this FAQ.  It is heavily based on other DC Newsgroup
>      FAQs with inputs from other DC area system administrators and
>      residents.

Needs a lot of re-writing, Keith.

> 
>      Nobody died and made us kings, and as such this document does not
>      necessarily represent any sort of established "laws."  It is our
>      best attempt towards bringing some form of order to a category of
>      newsgroups which, given the rash of inappropriate posts of late,
>      definitely needs it.
> 
>      Each draft of this document has been posted to
> 'dc.general.moderated',
>      'dc.general' (general discussion about the Washington,
>      D.C. area), and 'dc.config' (discussion about the dc.*
> newsgroups.)
>      If you have suggestions for improving this document, please forward
>      them to the maintainer, A. Reichert (reichera@clark.net).
> 
> II.2 General Disclaimer.
> 
>      K.A. Glass and other local DC area system administrators who
>      aided in drafting this document make no legally enforceable claims
>      as to the accuracy of this document.  As such, he/they are not
>      responsible if reading it, downloading it, printing it out, or even
>      being in the same room with it causes you to go blind, your
> computer
>      to implode, or your dog to hate you.

I dunno, estrangement of affections of one's dog is a pretty fierce
transgression <grin>!

> 
> II.3 How is this FAQ distributed?
> 
>      This FAQ is posted at least twice per month to 'dc.general',
>      'dc.general.moderated', and 'dc.config' by the maintainer, K.A.
> Glass
>      <salgak@huskynet.com>.
> 
> II.4 How may I distribute this FAQ?
> 
>      Please see the copyright notice below.  If it is unclear or you
>      have any questions, contact the FAQ maintainer at
>      <salgak@huskynet.com>.
> 
> II.5 Can I use this FAQ as a basis for my (other, regional) newsgroup?
> 
>      Yes.  In fact, this FAQ is directly based on other DC newsgroup
>      FAQs.  However, please cite the authors where appropriate.  In
> fact,
>      this entire document may be used as a FAQ for another newsgroup
> with
>      only place names changed.  However, I do not wish to be
>      responsible for answering questions in regards to newsgroups from
>      Buffalo to San Luis Opisbo, so if you are going to use this FAQ
>      for your newsgroup, make sure you set it up so I won't have to.  I
>      would also appreciate your telling me that you are indeed going to
>      use the FAQ.
> 
> This document is not complete, but is posted as a start.  Just remember
> the Golden Rule:  If you don't like it, then write your own FAQ.  (or
> make polite suggestions about improving mine.) Also, you are free to
> contact the maintainer or post publicly in 'dc.general', where any major
> revisions are discussed before going into effect.

Okay, as an alternative format, also take a look at
http://www.clark.net/pub/klaatu/a.b.t.FAQ.html
which is the FAQ (with links to the charter) for the alt.bio.technology*
heirarchy.

> 
> A note: Credit is given to A. Reichert <reichera@clark.net> from whose
> dc.jobs FAQ were the source and basic format for this document.
> *****
> This document is Copyright (c) 1998 K.A. Glass, all rights reserved.
> Permission is granted to reproduce it electronically on any system
> connected to the various networks which make up the Internet, USENET,
> and
> FidoNet, so long as it is reproduced in its entirety, unedited, and with
> this copyright notice intact.
> *****

-- 
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