[FAQ] GURPSnet FAQ
Sue and Sean
This is the Frequently Asked Questions List for the mailing lists
GURPSnet-L and GURPSnet-Digest. It will be posted periodically to
io.games.sjg.gurps, r.g.f.announce and the mailing lists. Please
distribute it further as you see fit. Suggestions are welcome --
email them to owner-gu...@io.com.
--- INTRODUCTION ---
Q: What are you talking about?
A: GURPSnet-L and GURPSnet-Digest are mailing lists used to discuss
all aspects of Steve Jackson's Generic Universal Role-Playing System.
Q: Who are you?
A: An entity who likes GURPS, has a stable Internet account, and is
willing to maintain a mailing list. I have no connection with SJ,
SJ Games, IOCOM, or any other Illuminatus. (Isn't that right, boss?
Heh. Heh. Heh.)
--- HOW TO SUB, POST, AND UNSUB ---
Q: How do I subscribe to GURPSnet-L?
A: To subscribe, send email to majo...@io.com. (Note that this is
not the posting address.) In the body, have the single line
"subscribe GURPSnet-L gra...@angels.web" (if your address is
"gra...@angels.web;" if not, use whatever your address really is).
Q: That's not *The One True Right* way to subscribe. Everyone knows
that *The One True Right* way to subscribe is....
A: GURPSnet-L runs under Majordomo. Majordomo is not Listserv. Trust
me. I'm the list administrator, and I'm here to help you.
Q: How do I post to GURPSnet-L?
A: To post, send your message to GURPS...@io.com. (Note that this
is not the subscribe/unsubscribe address.) Your message will be
sent to every subscriber, including yourself.
Q: How do I unsubscribe to GURPSnet-L?
A: To unsubscribe, send email to majo...@io.com. (Note that this is
not the posting address.) In the body, have the single line
"unsubscribe GURPSnet-L bab...@analytical.engine" (if the address
you want to unsubscribe is "bab...@analytical.engine;" if not, use
whatever address you want to unsubscribe.)
Q: The info message seems to be cut off at the bottom. How do I
increase my clearance?
A: You're obviously not cleared to increase your clearance, so it
wasn't cut off, it was censored.
Q: Can I get the messages in digest form?
A: Sure. Use the procedure above to subscribe, only substitute
GURPSnet-Digest for GURPSnet-L.
Q: What's a digest?
A: The digest version of the list saves up the messages until they
reach a specified volume or time period, then sends them out as a
single long message, instead of one at a time. There is no savings
on space or noise, but it is useful for people who can only pick up
their messages once a day, or who are charged per message rather
than by message size.
--- WHAT ARE THE RULES ABOUT POSTING? ---
Q: So what can I post?
A: Power corrupts, but absolute power is kinda neat. I run these
mailing lists as a benevolent tyrant with nearly everything handled
on a whim-by-whim basis. I'll warn you if I don't like something.
The only things that will cause you to suffer instant-death-no-
saving-throw are things like posting Make.Money.Fast. (I'll also
send a nasty-gram to your site for that one.) I almost certainly
will not like your advertising the moped / Amoeba 6000 / INWO cards
(in other words, any non-GURPS-related items) you have for sale.
Q: How about commercial postings?
A: If it's GURPS-related, keep it short and infrequent. If not, no.
Q: How about Fluff (game-based fiction)?
A: We voted. The NOs had an over-two-to-one margin.
Fluff is Not Allowed.
Q: I have this file of GURPS stuff, but it's reeely long. Can I post it?
A: Now that the GURPSnet FTP site is up, this policy has changed
slightly. *Don't* post it; put it on the FTP site and post a pointer
to the mailing list. ("I put this reeely long file of GURPS stuff
in the FTP site. It'll be available as soon as the administrator
gets his act together and moves it out of `incoming.'")
Q: Can I ask if there are any gamers in my area?
A: Posts of the sort "any gamers in ultima Thule?" are Not Allowed.
Scott Raun <sr...@barr.com> maintains a database of gaming groups
and of people looking for gaming groups, which he regularly posts
to the list. Please (privately) send email to him, and he will help
you out. Mark G. <ma...@shadow.net> is the backup list coordinator;
contact him if Scott is unavailable.
Q: I don't want to pay for GURPS Faplap. Would someone please type it
in for me?
A: I've always been rather aggressive in defense of copyrights, and
now that I own some, I'm even more so. Violation of copyright is
one way to get summarily nuked from the list. Violations of SJG's
copyrights will also be forwarded to Le...@io.com, and you may well
get a visit from beings in suits with serious briefcases and very
thin watches.
--- SUGGESTIONS ---
Q: Could the "Reply-To" field be set to GURPSnet rather than the sender?
A: Sure. However, in several, ah, *feature-challenged* mail programs
(Microsquish Mail and ccMail, to name two), the Sender is "owner-
gurpsnet-l," and From is "gurpsnet-l." The Reply-To address is the
only trace of the originator. If it is set to anything else, those
users can't send a private reply. Sorry. It's easier for you to
remember to type "GURPS...@io.com" than it is for them to try to
guess the sender's address.
Q: We ought to have an FTP site where we can make stuff available.
A: Good idea! We could take up a collection, and ... ahem. Try
io.com:/pub/GURPSnet. Put new stuff in /pub/GURPSnet/incoming.
--- WHINES ---
Q: There's too many messages! Stop talking about all that stuff, and
talk about what *I* want to you to talk about!
A: No.
Q: There's too many messages! Someone should start another list!
A: Go ahead. If you want to run it from io.com, write to Mc...@io.com
for help. (Those who complain about the volume of the list tempt
me to start a separate list for them to subscribe to. It would be
called "GURPSnot-L," and no one would be allowed to post to it.)
--
Susan and Sean (order optional) Omae no houkoku wa kanzen demo
S & S Enterprises nakereba kakutei tema demo nai.
sa...@netcom.com