clemens@1541.org(Clemens Kirchgatterer) 11.06.05 16:33
Once upon a time "Clemens Kirchgatterer " shaped the electrons to say...
This is the 'official' vdr-mailing-list-etiquette-reminder. Please take this as a serious advise. The VDR mailinglist is getting quite large and it shouldn't become a pain in the ass to follow. Take the time to read it, especially if you are new to mailinglists in general.
Maybe you can add some upcoming requirements?
E-mail formatting
Mailing list email should fit the following criteria:
DO
- Trim quoted material to the minimum needed to clarify what you're
talking about.
But don't trimm if there is nothing left to trimm only to have trimmed. Upto 1KB is usually required (and OK) to make the reader (and google!) able to see the "context".
An answer alone is nothing worth, because no search engine will find it.
* Pay attention not delete just the revelant parts and keep the neglectable. (Such brain dead "quoting" can often be seen.)
(That is a bit redundant, make it shorter)
- Add a blank line _before_ and _after_ each quote for better
readability.
Yes. Do the same in your text, please ;-)
- Write your responses _after_ the quoted text, not before. If your
mail client makes it difficult to do this, get a new one.
- Make sure lines are wrapped at maximum 76 characters (to fit an 80
character wide screen), even if the text had been quotet several times.
I would recommend 72 because that leaves enough space for some more quoting chars in a longer thread without reformatting. Too it's easier to read (64 would be better, but inefficient).
- Use ">" at start of line to mark quoted text.
Should read: * Use the correct nummers of ">" at start of line to mark quoted text.
- Use a descriptive subject! A message titled "A small wish"
doesn't tell what it is about. Better use something like "should do xyz" or "crashes when doing xyz".
* If the topic of the thread changed/degrades meanwhile, change the subject too! That means: Before you start to answer, have a look into the subject your are going to reply to! That makes it easier for others to find the relevant infos! Use: New topic (was: old topic) On reply the mail client would stop the subject at the magic token "(was:"
- Always write one separate message per topic. some people (especially
those who matter) might not read mixed-up and lengthy threads.
* Use a mailer which supports message ID references "X-ref"
- Make emails as short as possible whilst keeping them comprehensible.
But don't strip down only to strip down!
* Mail lengthly diffs (upto 10KB(?)) only as attachments, not in the body, because it would be easily become corrupted as "plain text". For longer diffs ask for a an ftp-server for upload.
* mail the orignal error message (literally) not you interpretation of it. If there is absoletely no way to get the original, do "strings" and see if you find a similar string. Note that this was just a reconstruction. That makes it easier for others to find the string and the solution...
* Reply, when ever possible, to the list, not just to the asker.
- Don't give a one line answer having quoted the whole post.
Is that true for all writes? ;-)
- Don't use a too long signature.
What is "long"? (approx. 4 lines are accepted) Don't let user alone with inexact figures.
- Don't break threads by sending a new mail, where you should have
replied.
See: use a reader capable for X-ref!
* Don't sign your mail (it is usually not securiry relevant) and worse don't add your full 5KB (!) public key as attachment. That's waste of bandwidth.
* Don't do "group reply", reply only to the list, because nobody could have posted to the list without beeing succripted to it first.
Rainer