======= WELCOME NEW USERS =======
TO COMP.LANG.PASCAL.MAC !
PURPOSE
This is the group for discussion on Macintosh Pascals, including apple
Pascal, Think Pascal, CodeWarrior Pascal, Language Systems Pascal and
others. All aspects of Pascal on the Macintosh are discussed.
HISTORY OF THE GROUP
This group was created by popular vote on June 12, 1995.
POSTING GUIDELINES
The subject line says it all ! Read only the messages you are
interested in. Leave the rest. Although sometimes the subject may
not really say what is in the posting, this is not common.
Try to remember how much trouble you have had reading postings
when YOU post:
- Put as much information as you can in the subject line !
Subjects like "help me" or "question about Pascal" are
junk mail -- they really don't deserve an answer.
- Don't keep adding replies to a thread (a thread is a chain
of replies) where the subject of conversation no longer
matches the subject title. Nobody wants to read posts about
"array indexing in Pascal" only to find that the topic
actually turned long ago into "why is the customer service
line always busy". The standard ethic here is to rename
the subject line and place the old subject after it, as:
Subject: Array indexing in Pascal
becomes:
Subject: Customer service should be shot (was: Array
indexing in Pascal)
- Arguments are fun ! But everyone knows when you step across
the line from "fun" to "flame". If you call someone a name
(and remember "idiot" is as bad a word as any other on the
Usenet) or engage in personal attacks, what you will find
is that people rapidly abandon the thread. People have
better things to do.
Arguing is an ART; flaming is the flush of a toilet.
- Keep the conversation ON Usenet ! All to often I get personal
mail about a posting asking further questions. Other people
might need to know that information too ! Also, I might not
know the answer, or someone else might know something in
addition. Keeping the conversation public allows all this
to happen.
If you are having a personal problem with someone on the
Usenet (if you are a regular, it is going to happen), it
might seem to be a good idea to send private mail to that
person, and take your argument out of public view. It isn't.
Private mail is unfortunately used to deliver threats,
mail so offensive or obscene that the mailer would be
embarrassed to show it in public, anonymous pranks, etc.
Send personal mail to friends; drop arguments. They are
not worth pursuing.
Similarly, posting messages asking for replies to be mailed
is poor form. Others may need the information you are requesting.
in any event, you are asking people to send advice that they
might post to the benefit of all, and perhaps save themselves
from mailing again and again and again...
- Read before you post ! It actually happens quite a bit that
people ask questions that have been answered only a few
posts back ! This occurs because people post without bothering
to read any of the existing posts.
In addition, most groups have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
list. If you have never read a FAQ, do so ! The FAQs are the
most fun reading on the Usenet. Far from being lectures, most
FAQs are a "best of the posts" do***ent that really gives
interesting information, sometimes information you will not
find elsewhere (see for example the "alt.2600" FAQ :).
- Be aware of limits. Many newsreaders have difficulty with subject
lines over 40 characters (which get chopped up). Try to keep
your posting text lines to 78 characters or LESS. If you use more,
your posts will look stupid because they will keep overflowing the
line and creating and unnecessary extra line.
If you have an editor that automatically "wraps" your lines into
80 character format, you may be unaware that your whole message
is just one big line, which looks really stupid and annoying to
people who don't use word wrap. I have a feature like that on
my reader. It works great for dealing with other people's posts
that exceed the 78 character limit, but tends to make you forget
when you are composing posts. I turn it off.
When placing large posts, be aware that some folks have limits
on how large a post they can accept. It is customary to break
down large posts.
Although it is a contentious issue, I don't personally think
it is the end of the world to post large messages. If you have
one of the common problems with your news provider/reader, such as
inability to read large posts, or rapid disposal of old posts,
or charging the daylights out of you even for posts you aren't
reading, you are either getting your service free, or you are
being ripped off by a bad apple provider. Either way, it is not
the posters fault. Personally, I get annoyed at having to read
or download a post that has been broken into a million pieces.
Note also that a bad news provider is something you can get
around ! There are public news servers. See:
http://sunsite.unc.edu/usenet-i/home.html
- Be tolerant. The Internet is pretty black and white on one issue:
if you cannot develop a thick skin here, you will not be
comfortable.
Does that poster really need to be told that he misspelled a
word ? Will you lose sleep tonight because someone posted
a stretched or broken fact ? There is nothing here as sad as
seeing an obvious newcomer get flamed for asking a stupid
question. Everyone was new once (well, except for me :)
- Use the WEB ! format. Using Web browsers is the up and coming
way to access the newsgroups. If you put web references
in the standard form, usually one of:
http://www.thisplace.com
ftp://ftp.nowhere.com
People's browsers will see this, highlight it in blue (or other
color). Then, they can click on it for instant access to the
site you are referencing !
Finally,
Because the Usenet (Usenet is the name of the Internet news posting
service in general) operates without censor****p on a faceless and
sometimes nameless basis, people sometimes seem to have no problem
leaving messages that they would not dare read in person. Other times,
facts are stretched and promises made that won't come true.
People say that society naturally sinks to it's lowest level without
accountability.
But keep this in mind: when everyone is being rude, taking the extra
time to be polite and keeping your word will make you truly stand
out from the mob.
--
Bill Catambay, Software Developer
Pascal Central -> http://pascal-central.com/
ExcaliburWorld -> http://excaliburworld.com/
|
