moveeman1
2004-02-28 04:07:23 UTC
Current nf.general FAQ/mandate
==============================
This article will be posted on a regular basis to nf.general in an effort
to maintain the newsgroups' adherence to its mandate for the benefit of all
users. Please direct any comments, suggestions or questions about this
article ONLY to the nf.config newsgroup. If your ISP doesn't carry the
nf.config newsgroup, please ask them to add it.
Articles not in adherence to the mandate of nf.general will be cancelled
without prior notification other than the cancel message explanation in the
control.cancel newsgroup. Article cancellation is not taken lightly, and is
not meant to imply censorship. Newsadmins should not be expected to
interpret
intent, judge relevance or arbitrate discussions in this unmoderated
newsgroup.
The most common reasons for article cancellation are
- binary postings
- commercial/for-profit or other want-ad postings
- non-general topics, topics which have specific newsgroups ( PC
questions )
- explicit foul language, personal attacks
========================= FAQ for nf.general
================================
another site started, it moved out some of its internal discussion groups
into
the nf.* hierarchy so more local users could be encompassed. Over time, ISPs
started and became interested in participating in the local news hierarchy.
Labradorians
- no SPAM, commercial advertising or want-ads
- not for want-ads or articles with binary-encoded material
- for infrequent postings
- as for most discussion groups, you should post only what you'd
be willing to say to the person's face and avoid personal attacks
Guidelines (each ISP is free to use their own, of course)
==========
- No binary postings.
- Technical and/or general PC questions should be posted into one of
nf.comp.* groups.
- No posting the same article every day, or several times a day, unless
there's been a substantive change in material.
- Be selective (within reason) when including material in followups. If
you include a complete message that is subsequently cancelled, your
posting will also be cancelled since it includes the offending
article.
ISPs can certainly make Usenet guidelines available to their users. My
news browser shows the 'purpose' line at the top of the screen whenever
I enter a newsgroup, your mileage may vary.
A periodic posting FAQ will be posted. No discussion of the FAQ should
be made in nf.general, instead discussion should be in nf.config.
New users to Usenet newsgroups should peruse the news.* hierarchy for
information about newsgroups, particularly news.news.newusers.questions
Part of their Usenet config will allow filtering based on size, number
of articles, article content, article origin, etc... ISPs with talent
can also implement other types of filters or act as a manual filter.
Manual filtering consumes valuable people-time and isn't used at many
sites. Making judgement calls about an article is a tricky business and
personal bias can easily become evident. A clear set of guidelines help
remove bias - all binary articles are cancelled, as a guideline for
example means there's no interpretation or second-guessing. Notification
of article cancellation isn't normally made. All cancellations are
posted to control.cancel with the explanation.
==============================
This article will be posted on a regular basis to nf.general in an effort
to maintain the newsgroups' adherence to its mandate for the benefit of all
users. Please direct any comments, suggestions or questions about this
article ONLY to the nf.config newsgroup. If your ISP doesn't carry the
nf.config newsgroup, please ask them to add it.
Articles not in adherence to the mandate of nf.general will be cancelled
without prior notification other than the cancel message explanation in the
control.cancel newsgroup. Article cancellation is not taken lightly, and is
not meant to imply censorship. Newsadmins should not be expected to
interpret
intent, judge relevance or arbitrate discussions in this unmoderated
newsgroup.
The most common reasons for article cancellation are
- binary postings
- commercial/for-profit or other want-ad postings
- non-general topics, topics which have specific newsgroups ( PC
questions )
- explicit foul language, personal attacks
========================= FAQ for nf.general
================================
1) how did nf.general get started ?
Memorial University was the only local Usenet site for many years and whenanother site started, it moved out some of its internal discussion groups
into
the nf.* hierarchy so more local users could be encompassed. Over time, ISPs
started and became interested in participating in the local news hierarchy.
2) What can be posted to nf.general?
- its a discussion forum, for topics of interest to Newfoundlanders andLabradorians
- no SPAM, commercial advertising or want-ads
- not for want-ads or articles with binary-encoded material
- for infrequent postings
- as for most discussion groups, you should post only what you'd
be willing to say to the person's face and avoid personal attacks
Guidelines (each ISP is free to use their own, of course)
==========
- No binary postings.
- Technical and/or general PC questions should be posted into one of
nf.comp.* groups.
- No posting the same article every day, or several times a day, unless
there's been a substantive change in material.
- Be selective (within reason) when including material in followups. If
you include a complete message that is subsequently cancelled, your
posting will also be cancelled since it includes the offending
article.
4) How can users know what a newsgroup charter is?
Most newsgroups have periodic postings about such things.ISPs can certainly make Usenet guidelines available to their users. My
news browser shows the 'purpose' line at the top of the screen whenever
I enter a newsgroup, your mileage may vary.
A periodic posting FAQ will be posted. No discussion of the FAQ should
be made in nf.general, instead discussion should be in nf.config.
New users to Usenet newsgroups should peruse the news.* hierarchy for
information about newsgroups, particularly news.news.newusers.questions
5) How do guidelines get enforced ?
Every Usenet ISP can control what articles they accept, keep or cancel.Part of their Usenet config will allow filtering based on size, number
of articles, article content, article origin, etc... ISPs with talent
can also implement other types of filters or act as a manual filter.
Manual filtering consumes valuable people-time and isn't used at many
sites. Making judgement calls about an article is a tricky business and
personal bias can easily become evident. A clear set of guidelines help
remove bias - all binary articles are cancelled, as a guideline for
example means there's no interpretation or second-guessing. Notification
of article cancellation isn't normally made. All cancellations are
posted to control.cancel with the explanation.
6) How does a newsgroups' charter get amended?
Start a discussion in nf.config regarding the proposed changes.