jla
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Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1993 14:22:41 -0800
Message-Id: <199312132222.AA16242@tcp.com>
To: Subgenius@mc.lcs.mit.edu
From: Majordomo@tcp.com
Subject: Welcome to 90210
Reply-To: Majordomo@tcp.com
--(Your subscription was requested by Ryan Snyder-Consultant <cs000rrs@selway.umt.edu>)
Welcome to the 90210 mailing list!
If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list, send the following command in email to "Majordomo@tcp.com":
unsubscribe 90210 Subgenius@mc.lcs.mit.edu
Here's the general information for the list you've subscribed to, in case you don't already have it:
WARNING: This list is a serious discussion group. If you are subscribing with the intent to harass or ridicule members, be prepared to suffer the consequences.
The 90210 list is for discussion about the Fox Television series Beverly Hills, 90210. This list is not associated with the Fox Television company in any way. This list is also NOT associated with the Usenet newsgroup alt.tv.bh90210.
There is now a seperate list for Melrose Place. Send mail to Majordomo@tcp.com to subscribe to it.
The archives include compiled messages from the list, an episode guide, subscriber polls and image files.
The following are general rules and information about lists served by this host:
*** IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ AND SAVE ***
You are responsible for reading this message before using the mailing list. If you do not, you may find yourself in trouble later, so do yourself a favor and look it over now. It is only through the volunteer efforts of the list manager and machine owner that the list can be provided to you. Please have the courtesy to read and understand this message.
IMPORTANT: Please remember the address you subscribe under. It is required to unsubscribe.
NOTE: throughout this file the word 'listname' is used to generically refer to the name of the list. Substitute the actual name of the list instead of listname.
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1) HOW TO ACCESS THE LIST
To post messages to the list, send email to:
listname@tcp.com
Any other things, like subscribing, unsubscribing, changing your address, etc., send to:
Majordomo@tcp.com
Majordomo is a server which follows commands contained in the body of the message. Send the command "help" for full details. The command "unsubscribe listname" will unsubscribe you from listname and likewise the command "subscribe listname" will subscribe you to the list.
If you need to contact the actual human in charge of the list, send to:
listname-manager@tcp.com
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2) HOW TO ACCESS THE ARCHIVES
The address to the ftp archives is:
ftp.tcp.com in /pub/listname (128.95.10.106)
(Not all lists have archives. If this directory doesn't exist, then the list has no archives currently.)
If you don't know how to ftp, "finger ftp@ftp.tcp.com" to learn how. You must be directly connected to Internet to do this. (ftp is a way of transferring files from here to your account over the Internet.)
If you are not on the Internet, you can still reach the archives through an ftp by mail service. For information on this, send a mail message saying 'help' to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com.
Note: The archives now use the gzip compression program. This is not the same as pkzip. gzip programs and source code are in the /pub/misc directory. You can also retrieve uncompressed files directly through a special feature. Read /README.conversion for details.
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3) HOW THE LIST WORKS
The way mailing lists work is, you mail to the address listed above, and then the mailer here sends your message on to everyone on the list. It all happens automatically. Therefore, ONLY ONLY ONLY send mail you want to send to everyone on the list to that address. Also note that when you post, the list will send a copy back to you, as well as the rest of the list. This is a good way to make sure it got through.
If you want to subscribe, unsubscribe, change address, or anything else similiar to this, use the address to Majordomo. Majordomo should be able to handle all requests automatically. Any requests sent to the list itself will be ignored. If you post about the list somewhere else or tell a friend about it, give the Majordomo address and subscription command ONLY.
The reason for these two warnings is that very often subscribe and unsubscribe requests get mailed to the main list, and everyone gets annoyed that they are getting all these 'junk-mail' messages in the list. The general rule for mailing lists is to send these type of requests either to a 'request' address for manually maintained lists, or to a LISTSERV or Majordomo address in the case of automatic lists.
Because the automatic Majordomo server can handle almost all transactions, please attempt to use it instead of mailing the list owner. If you need to contact the list owner, use the address listname-manager@tcp.com. The various lists are run by more than one person and it is possible that the person running a list last week is not the person running the list this week.
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4) WHAT IS AND IS NOT APPROPRIATE TO POST
There are some other things you shouldn't post to this mailing list. In general, if it doesn't relate to the subject of the list, don't post it.
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5) SOME THINGS WHICH ARE DEFINITELY NOT APPROPRIATE
Don't post encoded graphics images or very long text files. If your message is longer than 1000 lines or 50k, don't post it. Many subscribers have accounts on multiuser systems and have limits on how big their mail file can be. Large files can cause lots of problems for these people. Instead, you can place large files on an ftp server and post a message to the list about how to ftp the file. Interested subscribers can then retrieve the file and those who can't handle large files will be spared having their accounts thrown into jeopardy.
Don't post chain letters! These will get you into a lot of trouble with your system administrator, and you will get a lot of hate-mail from the recipients as well. Chain letters prey on gullibility. There is no special luck or good fortune received by sending these. The only result will be a lot of people yelling at you.
Don't post 'test' messages. If you think there is a problem, send mail to the Majordomo address and you'll get an automatic reply. If you don't get a reply, something is broken, and it's most likely at your end. Talk to whoever runs your mail system. If you post test messages, they might make it to the list, but not make it back to you, so you don't learn anything from it, but you do clutter up other people's mailboxes.
Resist the urge to post anything which says 'please pass this on' unless it relates to the subject of the list. These include:
The story about Craig Shergold in England who is dying and wants to get a world's record amount of postcards, letters, business cards, or whatever other mutation you come accross. This story is several years old, and since then he has surpassed the record, the record folks have removed this category from the record books because of the problems it creates, and Craig even got better.
The story about the new FCC modem tax. Again, this is quite old, but refuses to die. There was some talk several years ago about adding a surcharge on interstate leased data lines, but it was quickly defeated. This never had any direct relation to taxes on modems. Every so often the story is revived and folks post the file all over the place without bothering to ask the FCC about it. This has happened at least a dozen times, and each time it turned out to be a false alarm.
Anything that explains how you can get rich quick. Pretty much all of these are scams and are either illegal or immoral, though they'll usually claim to be completely legal. What's more, most of them just don't work. If it were so easy to get rich, why aren't we all rolling in cash?
There are other things which fall into this category, so just because it isn't listed here doesn't mean it is OK to post. There are a lot of what are known as urban legends floating around out there. If it sounds even a little fishy, it is likely to be untrue. Don't embarass yourself by falling prey to one of these tall tales! Use your common sense and you will stay out of trouble here. If you are interested in urban legends, there is a newsgroup called alt.folklore.urban which you can read.
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6) WHAT HAPPENS IF I POST SOMETHING INAPPROPRIATE?
Posting material which is obviously off the subject of the list will cause your immediate REMOVAL from the list and a note being sent to your postmaster and possibly to the administrative contact for your site. If it is not so obvious, or a minor flub, you'll probably get a gentle reminder of the rules.
Don't take this warning lightly! So far four people have lost their accounts and faced disciplinary action because of complaints sent to their superiors. Several others have had been permanently removed from the mailing lists.
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7) WHAT IF IT BOUNCES WHEN I POST?
When you post to the list, you might get back some bounces. This usually does not mean your messaage didn't make it to the list. The bounces are probably coming from individual subscribers who are having mail problems. If you get a bounce, just ignore it. If after a day your posting still hasn't been mailed back to you from the list, send the list owner mail about it.
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8) WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I REPLY TO A MESSAGE?
When you reply to a message sent to the list, most mailers will send your reply to the original sender ONLY. If you also want to send a reply to the list, you have to do things a bit differently. Some mailers allow you to reply in a special way so that it goes to the list and the original sender. In the 'Mail' program, using 'R' instead of 'r' to reply will do this. In the 'elm' program, you can use the 'g' command which stands for Group Reply. Another option is to mail the response back to the list address manually in the normal way you send mail. (Note that in some newer versions of 'Mail', the functions of the 'r' and 'R' commands are the reverse of the older versions described above.)
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9) WHAT'S THE 'OWNER' ADDRESS?
Some mailers are really stupid and will send replies to the address listname-owner. The listname-owner address is an address designed for the collection of bounce messages. Anything sent here probably won't be seen for a while, if at all. Misdirected messages sent to this address are usually discarded.
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10) SOMEONE REPLIED TO JUST ME INSTEAD OF THE WHOLE LIST
If you receive replies to your posting which are addressed personally to you, and not the list at large, it might be a good idea to repost excerpts or summaries of the replies, unless they are truly private responses. You might want to check with the sender to verify before reposting.
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11) WHAT ABOUT COPYRIGHT OF MY MESSAGES?
Under the Berne Convention Treaty, you have a copyright on any messages you create. By posting a message to the mailing list, you are giving up your right to control distribution of that message. In other words, by posting to the list, you are allowing your article to be freely copied, archived, reprinted, etc. by anyone who receives it, regardless of whether the person received it directly from the list, or from someone else. In some cases, a person may be charged to read or receive your article with no further compensation to you. You retain other rights afforded to you by copyright law.
You may not circumvent this policy by posting messages to the list which include a copyright notice which includes the phrase 'All rights reserved.' If you have a problem with this policy, you are free to not post to the list.
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12) THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF USERS HERE WHO WANT TO SUBSCRIBE
If several people at your site are interested in this mailing list, it is possible to set up a local reflector, or even a gateway to a local newsgroup. If there is a common interest, have your system administrator contact contact the list owner, and something can be arranged. This can not only cut down on bandwidth used, but can also expose the list to a wider audience at your site.
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13) WHAT HAPPENS IF MY MAIL SYSTEM GOES DOWN FOR A WHILE?
Be warned that if mail to you starts bouncing consistently for several days in a row, you will be removed from the list. If you have been having mail problems, or haven't received messages from the list in a while, send a message to the Majordomo address to see if you are still on the list. If you don't hear back from it this means either your message didn't get here, or it bounced on the way back. Sending more messages to it, or messages to the list address won't help a bit. Talking to your system admin will help.
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14) WHY NOT JUST ASK THE LIST MANAGER?
The purpose of the list is for discussion, so use it for what it was intended for. The list manager is most likely not the only one who can answer your question. The manager might even know less than some of the other subscribers on the list.
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15) ABOUT POSTING 'SPOILERS'
In the case of TV show discussion lists, if a post you are going to make reveals information that others don't know yet, make sure to do whatever possible to alert the reader that the article contains spoilers. If possible, wait until the episode has begun on the west coast before posting, but if you post before this, leave a warning at the top of the message and about 50 blank lines before the rest of the message. Many people don't like to find out about the show until they see it for themselves.
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16) WHAT OTHER LISTS ARE AVAILABLE HERE?
Send the command "lists" to the Majordomo address and it will send you a current list.
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Thanks for reading this message! It would be a good idea to save this to a file or print it out, so that you can refer to it in the future.
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End of Subgenius Digest ******************************
