Path: network.ucsd.edu!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: chuq@abs.apple.com (Chuq von Rospach) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm Subject: Introduction to the apple-internet-providers Mailing List Date: 15 Mar 1995 02:09:05 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Lines: 289 Sender: nobody@cs.utexas.edu Message-ID: <199503150800.AAA12653@abs.apple.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: news.cs.utexas.edu Last update February 22, 1995 This is the Introduction for the Apple Internet Providers mailing list. To suggest additions, changes, corrections or anything else, send mail to chuq@abs.apple.com. Mail server problems should be sent to server@abs.apple.com. EVERYONE should read this document at least once, especially the section on the charter an what constitutes acceptable postings and behavior. Ignorance of the rules is not considered an excuse. Please work with us to help make this place a fun list to be on. This document is posted to the mailing list twice a month, on the 1st and 15th. All automatically posted messages will have the a subject starting with "FAQ -". All IMPORTANT administrative messages will have a subject that begins with "Admin:". Users are requested to please read these. ============ Table of Contents ============ 0) Please note: automated subscriptions 1) How to find the FAQ and Home Page 2) Important Mail Server Commands 3) Charter: What's Acceptable/What's not 4) Archive locations ============ 0) Please note: ============ This list is run on an automated mail server. You should keep a copy of the server commands handy in case you need to change your subscription. Please do NOT under any circumstances post administrative commands or requests for server help to the public list. If you can't make it work, write to the admin directly. If you're too lazy to make it work, that's not my problem. The List Moms are ALSO very busy people and don't appreciate being interrupted by people who won't follow the rules. (it's different if you try and fail. That's what we're here for. And don't lie about trying. That's what logs are here for. We'll know). ============ 1) How to find the FAQ and Home Page ============ The home page for this mailing list is: http://abs.apple.com/pub/apple-internet-providers/ This document is: ftp://abs.apple.com/pub/apple-internet-providers/apple-internet-providers.INTRO The Frequently Asked Questions WWW page can be referenced from the home page. If you do not have WWW, you can ftp it from: ftp://abs.apple.com/pub/apple-internet-providers/apple-internet-providers.FAQ.html ============ 2) Important Mail Server commands ============ To post to the list, send mail to apple-internet-providers@abs.apple.com. You must be a subscriber to the list to post to it. Listproc (the mail server we use) is very picky about your address: if you work from multiple machines or forward mail from one place to another, it is very likely not to recognize you as a subscriber. Please keep that in mind and subscribe and post from your primary account. All server commands are sent to the address "listproc@abs.apple.com". Do not send server commands to the actual list! That is considered very rude to the user base. You can put more than one command in an e-mail message. Please note that if your e-mail messages contain signatures or footer lines, listproc will attempt to read them as commands and return an error to you. This can be ignored if you also get the confirmation back on the earlier commands. you SHOULD get a confirmation e-mail letter (or error warning) for EVERY command you send to listproc. If you didn't, something went wrong. Try it again, and if it still doesn't work, contact the admin address for help. The following commands are the most common ones. These are used in the body of the e-mail message, not the Subject line. Leave the Subject line blank. Below, for listname use apple-internet-providers (NOT apple-internet-providers@abs.apple.com), and for yourname, use your real name, not your e-mail address. To get on the list: SUBSCRIBE listname yourname (example: SUBSCRIBE apple-internet-providers Chuq Von Rospach) To cancel your subscription: UNSUBSCRIBE listname To turn on DIGEST mode: SET listname MAIL DIGEST To turn off DIGEST mode: SET listname MAIL ACK (yes, it's amazingly intuitive. I didn't write it) Other commands: [do note include text in brackets] GET listproc intro.to.listproc [a more complete tutorial] HELP [some basic commands. get the tutorial] LISTS [tells you what lists are on this server] INFO listname [get intro for another list] Example (based on Unix. your mailer will vary): % mail listproc@abs.apple.com Subject: SUBSCRIBE apple-internet-providers Chuq Von Rospach SET apple-internet-providers MAIL DIGEST HELP LIST GET listproc intro.to-listproc INFO apple-internet-providers % ============ 3) Charter: What's Acceptable, What's Not ============ Everyone is requested to read the rules and charter at least once and to please abide by them. Failure to cooperate can lead to having your posting privileges revoked, or to find yourself removed from the list completely. Please note: the List Moms (chuqui@netcom.com, aka chuq@abs.apple.com and Adam C. Engst, ace@tidbits.com) have the final and ONLY say as to what is and isn't appropriate content. If you are requested to close out a discussion, take it to e-mail, or shift it to one of the other mailing lists, please comply. You can discuss the situation with us, and we're willing to listen, but ultimately, nobody else gets a vote. Anyone who feels a posting or message thread is out of line should contact the List Mom. Users who try to take content issues into their own hands will only make the List Mom very unhappy with them and are subject to discipline like any person who violates the charter. These rules are in place because users taking content issues into their own hands is one of the most common causes of flamewars. The List Moms don't like flamewars. Let's all work together to keep the lists a fun place to be. +++ Acceptable uses: This list is designed as a place where people who are using Apple computers as service providers to the Internet. We at Apple want to encourage the use of Apple computers on the Internet (for obvious reasons) but otherwise, we plan to keep our hands off the list to the greatest extent possible. Anything having to do with Internet services on a Macintosh computer is acceptable. Please note that some services, like Mac-HTTP, have their own mailing lists and questions on them are usually better sent to the list that specializes in them. Pointers to these lists and other resources will exist on the home page and in the FAQ as appropriate to help you find them. This is also an appropriate group to discuss HTML and page design issues, at least until a special HTML list pops up. Tools, software, techniques, hints and anything else having to do with Apple and Internet are welcome. +++ Unacceptable uses: o General Macintosh questions. These should be referred to info-mac or one of the comp.sys.mac.* USENET groups. Internet stuff only, please. o Internet Service client software and client issues. Please use apple-internet-users for this. To get more info, send "info apple-internet-users" to the address "listproc@abs.apple.com" with a blank Subject. o Do not post to multiple mailing lists! Find the MOST APPROPRIATE list and post there. Shotgun mailings only fragment the response and cause people to duplicate time and effort trying to deal with the question. This is most important between apple-internet-users and apple-internet-providers. There is NO reason for anyone other than the List Moms to post the same message to both lists. o For Sale or Wanted to Buy messages. Don't post either to these lists under any circumstances. o Blatant sales hype and pitches. Low-key notes and press releases are okay. Use discretion. The same general attitude that USENET takes on this stuff is the guideline here. If you aren't absolutely sure, run it past the List Mom first and get an opinion. o Flaming and abusive language: We consider the users of this list to be mature, intelligent people. The few who prove themselves exceptions will find little patience from the List Moms. You may not use addresses obtained from this list to harrass others or send them offensive, abusive or blatantly commercial e-mail. People who abuse other members of this list, either in public or private, are in violation of this list's charter. If a user is upset enough by your e-mail to report it to us in a complaint, then as List Mom, we have the responsibility to investigate the problem and take action if we feel it necessary. o Do not post copyrighted material. It's illegal to type something in from a newspaper verbatim, or repost something sent out via Clarinet. Yes, we know it happens all over the net. That doesn't make it right or legal. If you DO do it, you put both yourself and us as owners of the list at legal risk if the copyright holder decides to fight. You CAN post a pointer to the work, summarize what the work is saying, post quotes from the work within the boundaries of fair use (and feel free to ask us if you aren't sure), but posting entire articles is a major no-no. Failure to cooperate on this one can get you kicked off the list, so please be careful. If you aren't sure, ask first. o Do not post or forward messages of general interest, mass-distributed warnings, rumors, good samaritan messages or chain letters to this list. Craig Shergold doesn't want any more postcards, honest. Before posting anything like this, check with the List Moms to determine whether it's appropriate. We don't care how important you think the subject is, whether it's a new computer virus rumor or a get well card -- it's not appropriate for this list unless we've cleared it in advance. Period. Users who violate this rule will lose their posting priviledges to the listproc. Users who are found in violation of the charter are subject to disciplinary action, from warnings to removal of their posting priviledges to being banned from use of the mailing lists on this server. If you can't behave, we feel no responsibility to let you use the services we provide. o Please do not post articles that include MIME enclosures or Binhexed files. These long postings are not acceptable on the mailing lists without explicit permission from the List Mom. +++ Suggestions for being a good citizen o Before you POST, check the FAQ and the home page to see if the answers are already in the archive. Let's try to avoid having to answer the same questions over, and over, and over. o Keep postings as short as possible. o If you include quoted material, edit it ruthlessly. Keep the smallest amount necessary for context. Do NOT simply leave it stuck to the end of your message (as mailers like QuickMail like to do), since it REALLY screws up the digest users. Edit, edit, edit! o Keep signatures as short as possible. o Keep Subject lines relevant. If the topic changes, change the Subject. If you are a digest reader, CHANGE the Subject to the appropriate Subject. If you don't, all we see is "Re: Apple-Internet-Users Digest $...", which is meaningless, and which many readers don't bother to read. Take a little time and make the Subject line useful. o Before you POST, check the FAQ and the home page to see if the answers are already in the archive. Let's try to avoid having to answer the same questions over, and over, and over. o Ask yourself if it's necessary to post to the entire list. If you aren't sure, e-mail it privately to the person you're responding to. o If someone asks a question and you want a copy of the answers, e-mail the request PRIVATELY. Don't send it to the entire list. o If you ask a question and people send you answers, PLEASE send copies to people that ask. If you get more than a couple of requests, then please put the answers together and post a summary to the list, AND e-mail a copy to the List Mom so it can be put in the archive so future users can get it without asking the question again. o Please keep the length of lines in messages posted to the list to no more than 72 characters. If your mailer doesn't auto-wrap things (Eudora does; most Unix mailers do NOT) then make sure you hit the return key instead of sending huge, one-line paragraphs. Those can be unreadable to many users. o In general, the harder it is for a person to read your message, the less likely the person with the answer to your question will bother to respond. Make it as easy as possible for people to read your message, and people will. Putting a little time into cleaning things up before you send it off can mean the difference between silence and getting the answer you need, and is the difference between someone being a good net.citizen and someone who comes across as a net.slob. ============ 4) Archive locations ============ The basic archive is by anonymous ftp or gopher to host abs.apple.com, in the directory ~ftp/pub/apple-internet-providers. All messages to the list are archived in the "message-archives" folder. If you have no access via FTP, the files can be accessed through listproc. See the intro.to.listproc for instructions. Note that because this is a very lightly used function and somewhat time intensive for the List Mom,it's rarely completely up to date. I do what I can. Consider it a last resort, though. The archives are cataloged and available through the WWW. Use the list's home page at: http://abs.apple.com/pub/apple-internet-providers/ ---- end of apple-internet-providers.INTRO ---- .