From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:00 2000
Subject: FAQNEWS2.TXT contents
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:00
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

                               Copyright (c) 1990-2000 by Timo Salmi
                                                 All rights reserved

FAQNEWS2.TXT Frequently (and not so frequently) asked questions
relating to Usenet news with answers. Part 2/2. The items are in no
particular order.

You are welcome to quote brief passages from this file provided you
clearly indicate the source with a proper acknowledgment.

Comments and corrections are solicited. However, if you wish to ask
for individual consultation, please do not email your question to
me. Instead post your questions to a suitable Usenet newsgroup like
news:news.newusers.questions. It is much more efficient than asking
me by email. I'd like to help, but because of my many activities I
am very pressed for time. I prefer to pick the questions I answer on
the Usenet news. Thus I can answer publicly at one go if I happen to
have an answer. Besides, the newsgroups have a number of other
readers who might know a better or an alternative answer. Don't be
discouraged, though, if you get a reply like this from me. I am
always glad to hear from fellow Usenet news readers.

Caveat: A lot has happened on the Internet the last few years. Most
importantly, the World Wide Web has emerged and is now considered
almost synonymous with Internet. Today, many if not most users
utilize WWW browsers such as Netscape for getting information,
reading the Usenet news, sending email, and downloading programs.
This FAQ was first started in 1990 when the most commonly used
Internet programs were Unix-based like rn for reading the Usenet
news and elm for handling email. This fact shows in many of the
items.

....................................................................
Prof. Timo Salmi   Co-moderator of news:comp.archives.msdos.announce
Moderating at ftp:// & http://garbo.uwasa.fi/ archives 193.166.120.5
Department of Accounting and Business Finance  ; University of Vaasa
mailto:ts@uwasa.fi <http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/>  ; FIN-65101,  Finland
Spam foiling in effect.  My email filter autoresponder will return a
required email password to users not yet in the privileges database.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
21) How can I send email to CompuServe from InterNet?
22) How does one create a new Usenet newsgroup?
23) I am having problems with canceling my posting. What to do?
24) What are the distribution area codes for Usenet news postings?
25) Should I thank for posted advice?
26) Can I say hello and find friends on news.newusers.questions?
27) How long will my posting stay on the Usenet news?
28) Where did my Usenet posting disappear?
29) Why are Usenet news postings out of sequence?
30) How should I react to chain letters?
31) Where do I find a complete list of Usenet newsgroups?
32) Someone broke the netiquette. Should I email advice?
33) Isn't English compulsory on the international Usenet news?
34) I am fed up with your FAQ postings. Why don't you lay off?
35) Please answer to my assignment to post to this newsgroup.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:21 2000
Subject: How can I send email to CompuServe from InterNet?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:21
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

21. *****
 Q: How can I send email to CompuServe from InterNet?

 A: That is simple. The CompuServe addresses are typically given in
the format [79999,9999]. From InterNet use 79999.9999@compuserve.com
where the comma is replaced by the a period.
   The other way round, you can send me email from Compuserve to
InterNet by applying send to ">INTERNET:user@site.domain", where the
user@site.domain naturally means a user's regular InterNet address.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:22 2000
Subject: How does one create a new Usenet newsgroup??
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:22
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

22. *****
 Q: How does one create a new Usenet newsgroup?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/createng.html

 A: The creation of a Usenet newsgroup is quite a complicated
process. Not technically, but administratively. The creation process
is described e.g. in
  ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/doc-net/usenews.zip
  Usenet Netiquette, creating new newsgroups, etc advice
Among other things it involves a request for discussion (RFD), a
call for votes (CFV), a waiting period if the votes passes, the
actual creation by the Usenet authorities. For information see
http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/writing/group-proposals "How to Format
and Submit a New Group Proposal" by Russ Allbery. For special
information about moderated newsgroups see Denis McKeon's
http://www.swcp.com/~dmckeon/mod-faq.html
   I was involved in the creation of the two comp.archives.msdos
newsgroups even if the actual voting process was kindly taken care
by another person. I can assure you that it is much hard work and it
takes several months (yes, indeed) to go through the whole process.
Hence it is not realistic to make suggestions of creating new
newsgroups without careful consideration and groundwork.
   Carefully think is it really a newsgroup you wish to have. In
many cases, especially if the need is local, you might instead wish
to consider setting up a mailing list.

 A2: From Sethu Rathinam. Reprinted with permission.
   If you want to create a Usenet newsgroup, you need to read at
least the following documents - they are posted to news.answers
and/or news.groups periodically. Read these groups often for at
least 6 months before attempting to create a newsgroup.
  1. How to Create a New Usenet Newsgroup
  2. So you want to Create an Alt Newsgroup
  3. Usenet Newsgroup Creation Companion
The above is a *minimum* requirement. Strong Advice: If you are in a
hurry to create a newsgroup, you shouldn't be creating one.

 A3: A point by David DeLaney. Before you do anything else, you
check to make sure that there are no existing groups that already
cover the area.

 A4: After a positive vote result to create a new newsgroup has been
confirmed there still can be hitches. There has been considerable
problems in 1998 because of forged cmsg control messages to create
bogus newsgroups. Jon Bell told me that some newsadmins may have
disabled automatic new newsgroups processing altogether. "People who
are interested in the new groups [that have passed the vote] will
have to ask their news server administrators to add those groups.
Providing them with a copy of the vote results from DejaNews or
elsewhere would probably help."

 A5: The process of creating the alt-hierarchy newsgroups differs
somewhat. Eric O. Troldahl points out that alt-newsgroups creation
advice is best asked on news:alt.config .
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:23 2000
Subject: Canceling postings
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:23
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

23. *****
 Q: I am having problems with canceling my posting. What to do?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/cancel.html

 A: How one cancels one's own posting is naturally dependent on the
newsreader program that one uses. In Unix rn you can cancel your
posting by pressing C (that is shift-c) when reading your own
posting. In other newsreaders check their help function for the
cancel command. For example in tin the cancel command is D.
   Confusingly, it may happen that you are unable to cancel your own
posting but get a "You can't cancel someone else's posting" message
instead. That implies that the newssystem at your side has been
configured badly. The sender and your own id do not match. It is not
your fault. There is nothing you can do about that yourself. It is
up to your local newsmanager to set the system right. Contact
him/her in case of this problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:24 2000
Subject: Limiting news distribution
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:24
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

24. *****
 Q: What are the distribution area codes for Usenet news postings?

 A: If you look at the header of a Usenet news posting, you'll
observe that it includes the a line "Distribution:" where you might
put a limited area code like usa, na (North America), local etc.
Don't trust this. The distribution limitation is not guaranteed to
work. In global newsgroups a local distribution can easily "leak"
since not all configurations along the feed observe this feature.
Thus the distribution field in the header is best left unchanged.
The best advice is always assume that the newsgroups default will
take precedence. In practice that means a "world" distribution in
news hierarchies like news. and comp. The New users' newsgroup
news.newusers.questions is a good case in point. Always assume world
distribution. Hence the frequent question where to find the
different distribution codes is somewhat moot.
   Kent Landfield writes on this in is own FAQ (reprinted with
permission): In theory the distributions work as intended, but in
practice, due to lack of verification by posting agents,
misconfigured news transport agents, wide-area sites which pick up
all news regardless of distribution, and inadequate controls on the
names of the distributions, they are relatively useless.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:25 2000
Subject: Should I thank for posted advice?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:25
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

25. *****
 Q: Should I post a thank-you note about a response I have got on
the Usenet news.

 A: Good manners never hurt, even if not everyone automatically
expects to be thanked for posting advice. However, if you do, there
are some very important considerations to think of.
   If you wish to send a thank-you response, use email, and email
only. Do _not_ post your individual thank you note to the Usenet
news. Many newsgroups have over a hundred thousand readers. Hence
posted thank-you notes are, quite rightly, considered superfluous
traffic.
   If you have received emailed advice from many quarters and wish
to thank collectively, please do not do that either on the Usenet
news. One notable exception. If you summarize for the benefit of the
other readers the information which you have received.
   If you use email, then tell your benefactor what you are thanking
him/her for. Some users handle so much Usenet postings and email
that unless you do they will have no idea what your thanks is
related to. They'll just be baffled.
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From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:26 2000
Subject: Can I say hello and find friends on news.newusers.questions?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:26
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

26. *****

 Q: I am new and would love to receive messages from far away!

 A: >>> Please do not post hello messages to new.newusers.questions <<<

Dear New Users ("Newbies"),

Welcome to news:news.newusers.questions, news:news.groups.questions
or news:alt.newbie. This message is meant as helpful guidance from
an old user to help you to find your way with regard to the no-no of
posting hello messages, or posting replies to them.
   The newsgroup news:news.newusers.questions is intended for the
"Questions and Answers of users new to Usenet". The newsgroup
news:news.groups.questions is meant for "Where can I find talk about
topic X?". Since so many of the users are new in these newsgroups,
there are a lot of aspects of net usages and conduct, which a number
of the readers are not aware of. This posting is to inform you of
one of the pitfalls.
   There are frequent postings by new users introducing themselves
in the style "I am new and would love messages from far away". This
is nice, BUT it is _*NOT*_ the thing to do. The newsgroups are for
asking users' on-topic questions, not for socializing, however
friendly the intent.
   If you see a "hello" posting on news.newusers.questions,
news.groups.questions or some other ordinary discussion newsgroup,
and absolutely wish to respond to it by saying your own friendly
hello, do not post - I repeat DO NOT POST - your reply to the
newsgroup, but send your greetings by EMAIL!
   As an example, at the count in April 1995 there were some
390,000(!) users reading news.newusers.questions. There will be a
total chaos if the new users continue posting hello messages in the
newsgroups. Besides, there is a real danger that your mailbox might
virtually explode with responses from all over the world if you
solicit hellos on a newsgroup like news.newusers.questions.
   The number one tenet on news.newusers.questions and other
newsgroups is to start by reading, not by posting. Watch, learn and
get your bearings before starting to post yourself.
   If you wish to socialize there are special newsgroups for the
purpose like news:soc.penpals, news:alt.personals.ads,
news:alt.personals.misc and the moderated news:soc.personals. You
might also try to find out about special alternatives like IRC
(Internet Relay Chat) from a more seasoned friend.
   For a more comprehensive treatment of alternative newsgroups for
socializing please see "A Guide to Social Newsgroups and Mailing
Lists" by Dave Taylor. It is posted regularly to news.answers. It is
also available from rtfm.mit.edu by their mail server: To receive it
by email send email to "mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu" with the command
"send pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/usenet/social-newsgroups/part1"
(no quotes). Or you can get it using World Wide Web:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/faqs/news/social-newsgroups/part1
   What was being said here about the no-no of hello postings goes
for test postings, too. Do not post tests to news.newusers.questions
or the other ordinary newsgroups! For more information on the right
places to post tests please see my item "17) Where to put test
postings?" in ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqn.zip

 P.S. While the word newbie is unfortunately often used derisively,
I use it here solely in a positive sense and would hope to see it
gain this more friendly connotation. Besides there is a newsgroup
by that very name: news:alt.newbie
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:27 2000
Subject: How long will my posting stay on the Usenet news?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:27
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

27. *****

 Q: How long will my or someone else's posting stay on the news?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/expiry.html

 A: There are some Usenet news related questions which cannot have a
unique answer. This is one of them.
   Each site (your host) receiving the newsfeed can define how long
a news posting is kept before it is deleted, that is before it
expires. The expiry can even be made to vary at a site depending on
the newsgroup. In fact this is fairly common. The default expiry
lengths at the various sites are influenced by many factors like
local policy, the relevance of the newsgroup, the capacity of the
local newsserver computer, and so on.
   The current Usenet news volumes are staggering. This puts
pressures on many sites to use quick expiry spans. Since the news
travel at different speeds from the different parts of the net, and
parts of the net may occasionally be down along the feed, the news
arrive at differing lags. Unfortunately this means that at worst
some newspostings can even have expired when they finally arrive.
   If you look at the header of a news posting you will note an
"Expires:" line in the header. This can be used to TRY to alter the
expiry. The format is "Expires: Sun, 14 May 1995 10:00:00 GMT"
without the double quotes. Please don't use this feature unless you
have a very good reason and know what you are doing. Also note that
many hosts override the users' expiry redefinitions.
   If you wish to access older news postings that already have
expired on your own server there is an extensive storage system at
http://www.dejanews.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:28 2000
Subject: Where did my Usenet posting disappear?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:28
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

28. *****

 Q: I just made a posting to the Usenet news but it is not there!

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/postgone.html

 A: This is a fairly common complaint, but most often it is
unfounded. You see, many newsreader programs no longer show a
posting once it has been read. Else you would see the same posting
over and over again, but it does not mean that the posting has been
deleted, i.e. expired. You just have to force your way back to
postings that already have been read. How to do that depends on your
newsreader program. See your newsreader's help for more. For example
in rn and trn the key to press to go backwards to any posting is P.
   When you have made a posting to the news, for some reason it can
become read under some newsreaders, even if it shouldn't. Thus it
might appear that your posting did not make it even if it did. Force
the newsreader to go back / forward to read messages to see your
posting if your configuration has these kinds of problems. Another
dilemma is that depending on your local arrangements the newsposting
may take a (short) while before your newsserver makes it accessible.
   Some newsgroups are moderated newsgroups. If you post to a
moderated newsgroup, instead of making it appear right away, your
newsreader program will email your posting to the newsgroups
moderates who eventually posts it to the newsgroup (or rejects it).
   There is one pitfall with submitting a moderated posting. If you
cross-post to a moderated newsgroup and non-moderated newsgroups,
your posting will not appear in the non-moderated newsgroup, but
will be emailed to the moderator. Whether he/she heeds to your
cross-posting definition is up to him/her. The blanket advice is not
to use cross-posting at all when submitting a posting to a moderated
newsgroup.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:29 2000
Subject: Why are Usenet news postings out of sequence?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:29
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

29. *****

 Q: Why are Usenet news postings out of sequence?

 A: The Usenet news postings travel at different speeds from the
different parts of the net, and parts of the net may occasionally be
down along the feed. Thus the news postings arrive at differing,
volatile lags.
   Take a look at the "Date:" line in the posting's header. You'll
see much variation and will note that quite a lot of the postings
are out of chronological sequence. It is not at all uncommon to see
replies to postings before seeing the original posting which is
being replied to.
   Nevertheless, the newspostings are numbered sequentially at the
receiving sites. The numbering is unique to each receiving site.
Hence you cannot identify a posting by its number (not at least to
anyone outside your own site)! Don't to refer to a posting by the
sequential number number even if your own newsreader program may
display and use these numbers. (The only way to identify a posting
unequivocally is from the "Message-Id" line from the posting's
header.)
   In some modern newsreaders you will be able to choose the sorting
criterion of the postings. See your program's help for more details.
E.g. in Netscape Collabra you can sort by Subject, Sender, or Date.
And you can toggle threading the messages.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:30 2000
Subject: Chain letters
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:30
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

30. *****

 Q: How should I react to chain letters?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/chainlet.html

 A: One of the most frequent net abuses is posting make money fast
chain letter schemes and their derivatives. Not only are they
against the netiquette, but they are outright illegal in many
countries. For example for the U.S. see
 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pub/pc/doc-net/chain.txt
 About chain letters, from the U.S. postmaster general
and
 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/doc-net/chain2.txt
 chain2.txt More on chain letters, written by R. Scott Perry
These scams come in many variations on the net. If you are a
newcomer to the Usenet news, don't do anything about it. In
particular do not become another offender by continuing the chain.
Many system administrators are quite fed up with this form of abuse.
They often will cancel the culprit's computer account without
further ado.
   If you are an experienced user, you may want to notify the
relevant postmaster. If you do, please bear in mind a few obvious
things. 1) Copy the full headers of the posting for her/him. The
scam postings often are forgeries just to annoy the net. The full
headers make it a bit easier to try asses this. 2) Delete most of
the body of the scam, since it serves no informative purpose. 3) Be
polite and to the point.
   If you are a less experienced reader one thing you should not do
is to follow up the chain letter with a furious flame in the
newsgroup(s) believing that the perpetrator will see it. There is a
good chance that the origin is forged. Most importantly do not go
and quote the entire chain letter, or other offending material, in
your followup. That will just compound the abuse and make you a
party of the felony, especially, since some users use such guises to
post the chain letters.
   The following newsgroups have more information on errant behavior
on the Usenet
  news:news.admin.net-abuse.announce Information regarding network
resource abuse (moderated)
  news:news.admin.net-abuse.misc Network facility abuse, including
spamming.
  In this day and age there is a lot of information available by
WWW, also about chain letters. The disadvantage here is that there
is _*no*_ guarantee how long the links will stay current, but here
are some pointers:
 http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/chainlet.htm
 http://www.wco.com/~rteeter/pyramid.html
 http://athos.rutgers.edu/~watrous/chain-letters.html
 http://www.cnet.com/Content/Features/Dlife/Crime/ss03a.html
 http://dcn.davis.ca.us/~btcarrol/skeptic/pyramid.html
 http://www.aeu-inc.com/descr/free/secrets_of_success_with_chain_le.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:31 2000
Subject: List of newsgroups
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:31
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

31. *****

 Q: Where do I find a complete list of Usenet newsgroups?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/newsgrps.html

 A: The lists of the various newsgroups annotated with one-line
topic descriptions are contained in
 ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/doc-net/newsgrps.zip
 newsgrps.zip Lists of Active Newsgroups, David Lawrence + al.
If you do not know how to go about getting this file, please read
the instructions in "PD2ANS.TXT Q&As on uwasa.fi archives & more"
included in this package.
   I have made a list of my own favorite newsgroups should you be
interested. Its address is http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/news.html
   Read the news:news.newusers.questions newsgroup for awhile. More
pointers to newsgroup lists will (re)appear there sooner or later,
such as ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/ (long).
  In this day and age there is a lot of information available by
WWW, also about newsgroups. The disadvantage here is that there
is _*no*_ guarantee how long the links will stay current, but here
are some pointers:
 http://www.liszt.com/news/
 http://www.duke.edu/~mg/usenet/newsgroups.html
 http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/
 http://www.vic.com/news/groups/
 http://sol.csd.unb.ca:70/0/FAQ/newsgroups
 http://tile.net:2001/news/newsadminhierarchies.html
 http://ben-schumin.simplenet.com/newsindex/
 http://www.magma.ca/~leisen/master_list.html
 http://www.usenet.org.uk/newsgroups.html
As most net citizes know DejaNews has a huge news repository of old
news postings. Naturally their service can also be used to identify
newsgroup hierarchies and newsgroups. The best starting point is
maybe http://www.dejanews.com/home_bg.shtml
   A related question asked often on the Usenet news is how many
newsgroups are there. No one knows, but the estimates of the number
of _international_ newsgroups range to well over 40000 in 1998.

 A2: The list of newsgroups that your provider is offering may
occasionally be much more important information than what newsgroups
in general exist. Now finding out that information is highly
dependent on your environment. For example, in the Unix rn and
similar news reader programs see the ~/.newsrc contents for the
available newsgroups or in trn yank all the newsgroups to the fore.
In Netscape Collabra (Netscape Navigator's Message Center) click the
Subscribe button and proceed from there. And so on.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:32 2000
Subject: Typical responses to advice
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:32
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

32. *****

 Q: Someone broke the netiquette. Should I email advice?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/police.html

 A: When you have gained more experience on Usenet you may wish to
help other users to find their way on the net. This requires
diplomacy! Mistakes are not remedied by scolding the errant user. It
just will get you enemies on the net. Learn to distinguish genuine,
well-meaning ignorance from deliberate net abuse. Let's consider in
this item the genuine mistakes. If you absolutely feel that you must
write to the errant user, try to help by giving constructive advice.
This is very important. If you are not constructive your advice will
be wasted, or worse. Too many mistakes are made on the net in this
respect.
   Be prepared for varying kinds of responses. Since I have myself
managed to gain a reasonable amount of experience on the net on
giving advice to fellow users, below are some of my observations.
These are typically the kind of responses one tends to get when
giving unsolicited emailed advice about matters like where one
should put binary postings, what are the relevant newsgroup's topics
and so on.

 1: Cooperative. Quite common. The user understands the nature of
the advice correctly, considers it useful, and that's normally the
end of it. Or s/he may email me a brief (welcome) note acknowledging
the information without further ado, sometimes complimenting on the
fact that there was no "flame" involved.
   (My response in this case: It is a real pleasure to deal with
users like you, and I look forward to meeting you again on the net.)

 2: Apologetic. Perhaps the most usual reaction. This is not a
necessary feeling since the information is genuinely meant to help
the user to find his/her way on the newsgroups. There is no
criticism involved in my sending the advice.
   (My response in this case: Please do not be discouraged by my
note. We all make mistakes. Please go on and enjoy the net.)

 3: Patronizing. Especially some experienced users feel embarrassed
by their mistake, may agree, but wish save face by whatever
rationalizations happen to become handy. A fairly common additional
hallmark of this category is including suggestions that would cause
an inordinate amount of extra work at my end.
   (My response in this case: We both seem know the true ropes. So
just let's leave be without further parrying.)

 4: Indignant. This reaction is fortunately not common. The user
does not actually refute having misposted, but the user's ego is for
some reason bruised from getting the unsolicited guidance.
Consequently s/he throws some form of a tantrum. Typically the user
also finds severe fault with the content of the advice. If the note
is short, s/he'll complain that it is too curt, if the note is
extensive, s/he'll complain that a couple of rows would have been
enough. There is no satisfying a user in this frame of mind.
   (My response in this case: Please first try to properly calm
down. Then reread the information which I sent you from a more
detached and receptive perspective.)

 5: Abusive. Fortunately this has happened very, very rarely. The
user calls me names, tells me to f**k off, tells me to mind my own
g*d d**n f**king business, and that he damn well posts whatever,
wherever, and whenever he pleases. He also confuses my giving the
information with trying to "police" the net.
   (My response in this rare case: I am afraid you seem to be beyond
redemption, a forgery, or under the influence. Please try learn the
some elementary manners if you intend to frequent the net.)

 6: Imperial. The user wants all things handed to him/her on a
silver platter. Goes something like in this spirit. "How dare you
send me a prerecorded message. I do not have the time to read
through long FAQ material (FAQ = Frequently Asked Questions). I want
a good, brief and customized answer to my question and to my
question only."
  (My response in this case: Sorry. While I try to help I am not
everyone's obedient servant. If you wish to have commercial quality
personal service, please turn to commercial providers.)
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From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:33 2000
Subject: Write in English!?
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:33
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

33. *****

 Q: Isn't English compulsory on the international Usenet news?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/onlyengl.html

 A: This issue rises from time to time. No, English is not dictated
by the netiquette as the compulsory language on the Usenet news. The
choice is yours. However, English is the rational choice on Usenet
news since it is the prevalent, common language on the Usenet news.
Vai olisiko parempi, etta esimerkiksi mina kirjoittaisin lukuisat
FAQ postitukseni suomeksi? :-)
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From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:34 2000
Subject: My FAQ posting frequency
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:34
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

34. *****

 Q: I am fed up with your FAQ postings. Why don't you lay off?

A more current version of this item is now available as
http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/faqoff.html

 A: Since I make several, partly automated FAQ and other information
and advice postings on the Usenet news, this issue rises from time
to time. In general, there is a huge number of regular FAQ and
similar postings on the Usenet news. Some readers welcome them, some
don't. Hence, whenever I can, I try to make mine easy to avoid. I
keep the subject header information of my FAQ postings constant for
the easier, automatic avoidance. Several newsreader programs have
kill file properties which can readily be used to avoid the
automated regular postings. It is best to learn to live with the
situation.
   The particular issue which rises most often from the serious
users is the users' different preferences about the FAQ posting
frequency. Whichever one follows (e.g. bi-weekly, weekly,
bi-monthly, monthly, semi-annual, annual, never) there are so many
users on the Usenet news that there always are users who would like
things differently. An additional catch is that the actual need of
regular information postings in a newsgroup can fluctuate even
widely over time depending on what currently happens to be going on
in the newsgroup.
   A parallel, occasional issue is displeasure at my posting advice
on e.g. points such as "where to put test postings", "about posting
binaries to discussion newsgroups" and "tips about quoting". One
demand is that I take the advice to email. The reasons why I post
are the following. First, it unfortunately is very common (for
understandable reasons) on the Usenet that the poster's address is
not valid. Second, my purpose is to try to help by the advice, but
to chide anyone. This is a point that some users single-mindedly
fail to see. One should not automatically assume a flame-oriented
frame of mind. Third, others on the newsgroup might benefit from the
tips. Not everyone is antagonistic about the posted advice.
   I am fortunate enough to have gained a reasonable amount of
experience on the Usenet news, in fact practically from its outset.
Based on that experience, what I usually do with the complaints
about my FAQ postings is this:
 - Abusive comment postings I try to ignore altogether (deliberate
   hostility does not lead anywhere). The same goes for anonymous
   complaints (anonymity a is big credibility put-off).
 - Individual comments and wishes I note, but I can't and won't
   adjust my posting frequency and policy on every single
   individual's personal habits and preferences.
 - A clear common consensus I am pleased to listen to. But in the
   final analysis, it is up to me what I eventually do and what I
   don't.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From ts@uwasa.fi Thu Apr 27 00:00:34 2000
Subject: Lecturer assigns posting
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 00:00:34
From: ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi)

35. *****

 Q: Please answer to my assignment to post to this newsgroup.

 A: I am afraid that that is not a considerate assignment from your
lecturer. Please convey my regards to him/her. Test postings should
be made in test newsgroups. In the case of assignments local test
groups are the most suitable ones. Newsgroups like news:alt.newbie
and news:news.newusers.questions are meant for new users' questions.
These newsgroups are not proper testing grounds. One should have
genuine content for a bona fide posting even if considering the
nature of these newsgroups the miscellaneous nature of the postings
is more than understandable.
   It gets even worse if the assigned task is to post a fixed
question. Making a lot of students to post exactly the same message
into an international newsgroup like news:news.newusers.questions is
irresponsible net behavior from the part of your lecturer. A good
lecturer on Internet and Usenet news usage should really know better
than that. What on earth does your lecturer think would happen to
the Usenet news if, say, a 10000 lectures would give their classes
an assignment to ask the same question?
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