Introduction to posting to net.general (Last changed: 3 December 1985)
use...@gatech.uucp
[Most recent change: 3 December 1985 by spaf]
This is a short introduction to the proper use of the "net.general"
newsgroup. The "rules" for Usenet are based on convention, common sense, and
tradition. More detail on these rules, and on effective and proper use of the
Usenet in general may be found in the regular monthly postings in the
"net.announce.newusers" newsgroup. If you have not yet read those postings,
do so, soon! If your system does not get "net.announce.newusers" then send
me mail and I will try to obtain copies of those articles for you.
What is appropriate to post to net.general?
The only articles appropriate to net.general are articles of general
interest and importance to *EVERYONE* on the net. This includes readers
of the net in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and the USA -- readers at
over 1100 sites around the world.
Announcements of items for sale, test messages, announcements of local
seminars, postings of sources or bugs, enquiries as to the whereabouts of
old friends, and the like are *NOT* to be posted to net.general.
Followups to articles in net.general are also NOT supposed to go to
net.general; there is a "net.followup" specifically for that purpose.
By convention, anything posted to net.general should *NOT* be posted to
any other "net" group, except perhaps "net.announce" (which is a
moderated group).
Where do I post those articles then?
Look for a local or regional group first, and use the distribution
feature of "postnews" (see the "man" page for postnews and/or the
articles in "net.announce.newusers" for specifics on how to do this).
For instance, a car for sale could be mentioned in an article in the
"net.auto" group BUT ONLY with the distribution set to an appropriate
value, like "nj" or "ca" -- very few people in Australia or Denmark will
want to read about a Chevy for sale in Chicago. They also don't want to
pay the phone costs to transmit the article overseas.
Test messages should go to your local "test" newsgroup. Test messages
that MUST be broadcast to the entire world should be put in "net.test".
Please don't send tests to sites on four continents just to make sure
that your link with a single neighbor works; use an appropriate
distribution on net.test, or create a "to" newsgroup for such tests.
If you are trying to locate someone, post to "net.net-people".
Most "wanted" requests should go to either "net.wanted" or
"net.wanted.sources".
Where do I post something if I can't figure out where to post it?
Well, if you aren't sure where to post it, it definitely does NOT belong
in net.general. If it doesn't seem to fit in any newsgroup as described
in the list of active groups posted to net.announce.newusers, you should
post it to the "net.misc" group -- or not post it at all.
Where do I go to get more information about newsgroups and posting?
See the articles in "net.announce.newusers". I post a number of articles
there every month which list all active newsgroups and their purposes. I
also post updated articles on Usenet rules and conventions. Every Usenet
user should familiarlize himself or herself with the contents of those
articles.
You can also ask an "old-timer" for advice or help. Try sending
mail to me (sp...@gatech.uucp), Mark Horton (ma...@cbosgd.uucp), Rick
Adams (ri...@seismo.css.gov), Frederick Avolio (avo...@decuac.uucp)
or Chuq Von Rospach (ch...@sun.uucp). We'll be happy to try to
answer your questions -- just don't post them to the net first!
Usenet continues to function due to the co-operative efforts of its users.
Please co-operate and use net.general for its intended purpose.