Stationary Engine List & Old Engine List - Nettiquite

Net Police

They are necessary evils and play an important role. Nobody likes to do it but everyone needs a punch in the arm sometimes and they do it for us. Don't shoot the messenger. Let them post in peace unless they take their role too seriously. Then approach them off-list with your concerns with their actions.

Off-topic postings

• Use the phrase "Off-topic" in the subject line.
• In the text, ask for all replies to be made directly to you, in other words: "off-list"
• To all that reply, please reply off list
• You are responsible for that "thread". If people start replying to the list and the thread in general starts consuming a lot of bandwidth, you are responsible for contacting the people privately and asking them to contact you and the other interested parties off list.
• Likewise, if the thread starts getting interesting and you think it would benefit most subscribers, I ask you to move back onto the list by contacting the original parties to the conversations, cc-ing the list, etc.

"Grey area" postings

Post away. The thread will run it's course usually without causing any great problems even if it is of limited interest. Also, the thread may wander into areas of genuine concern for everyone. I would hate to miss a great thread just because initially it was of borderline interest.

How to deal with a thread you do not like

If you don’t like a thread, please use your delete key. If the intrusion and inconvenience of a thread is more than you can stand, please contact folks participating in the thread individually and off list. Usually criticisms made to the list are greater evils, in my estimations, than any thread being discussed.

Formatting your message

• Always include a subject line, if your reply to a message changes the subject then change the subject line.
• Please include your return e-mail address, city, state and country in your .signature file (ie. at the end of every message).
• Keep your posts close to the topic (Stationary Engines)
• When replying, delete any material not relevant to your reply
• PLEASE post only in plain text, for the sake of those who get the daily digest version. I know that with each progression of email programs it becomes easier to send pictures and do fancy fonts and funky colours, but believe me, it doesn't look pretty when you have to wade through the HTML code which produces that in order to read a few lines of an email. If you don't understand the difference, or need to learn how to post in plain text, please ask.

Some last words

• Patience, tolerance and maturity are the watch words of this list. It is by far one of the most civilised list on the Net and in general the comments are relevant. It is a big list and a divergence of what is considered "relevant" is to be expected.
• Avoid posting "me to", "I'd like a copy too" and "right on" type messages to the list - reply off list
• If you must flame someone, do it privately off list
• Before pressing "Send", read over your note, consider if it is really interesting to the list members, you might also consider that your note will be kept in the archive for posterity.

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Thanks for listening, and lets have fun!