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. 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. * Add a blank line _before_ and _after_ each quote for better readability. * Make sure you are attributing material to the correct person (i.e. make sure the "On 19/07/2002, Joe Bloggs said:" is correct) * 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. * Use ">" at start of line to mark quoted text. * Set your mail client to "english headers" to avoid subjects like: "AW: Antwort: Re: AW: AW: AW: Re: Some Topic allready trunkated" If you see one, don't just add another "Re:" but remove all "AW:" and other chained "Re:". * 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". * Always write one separate message per topic. some people (especially those who matter) might not read mixed-up and lengthy threads. * Start a new thread when posting a new subject. * Make emails as short as possible whilst keeping them comprehensible. Don't ----- * Don't post in either HTML-only or in Text and HTML. If your mail client doesn't support this, change it. * Don't top post. * Don't give a one line answer having quoted the whole post. * Don't use a too long signature. * Don't reply where you should have started a new thread. * Don't break threads by sending a new mail, where you should have replied. * Don't test post. Send your test posts to "echo@xxxxxxxxxxxx" or similar reply machines. * Don't use lengthly disclaimers. If not possible, use a freemail account. * Don't quote disclaimers and other footers. General Etiquette ================= This can really be summed up in one phrase - 'be polite'. Allways use your 'Real Name' when posting to mailinglists or newsgroups. If you think something is off-topic, don't reply to the list although you may want to send a short and *polite* note to the person privately telling them which list would be more appropriate; don't just say - "that is OT here". Before asking a question, please Have a look at the mailing list archives at http://www.linuxtv.org/pipermail/vdr/ If someone flames or trolls the list, don't reply - it wastes everyones bandwidth and time. Don't reply to spam which gets through to the list - just ignore it when it does. Resources ========= * The ultimate guide to most matters to do with email etiquette is RFC-2822 which can be found at: ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2822.txt * A german site set up by some usenet-people, who take it even more serious with netiquette. http://learn.to/quote
