Subject: [comp.os.linux.announce] Guidelines for posting
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce,comp.os.linux.misc,news.answers,comp.answers
From: mdw@sunsite.unc.edu (Matt Welsh)
Date: 12 May 1994 00:29:28 GMT

Archive-name: linux/announce/guide
Last-modified: 26 Mar 93

HOW TO POST TO COMP.OS.LINUX.ANNOUNCE

This article gives info on how and what to post to comp.os.linux.announce.
Please read the whole thing, to avoid any confusion. :)

To submit an article to this group, please mail the article to:
	linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu

If you have questions or problems with posting to comp.os.linux.announce,
please send mail to the moderators at:
	linux-announce-request@tc.cornell.edu
Or, you may send mail to us directly. The moderators for this group are
Matt Welsh (mdw@sunsite.unc.edu) and Lars Wirzenius (wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi).

Whereas most versions of the C-News news software will automatically mail
postings to the moderator address, it may take some time for this address
to propagate (and there are many systems out there not supporting this
automatic mailing feature). Therefore, to ensure that your posting will get
to us, you should probably mail it to us by hand. Once we receive your article
and approve it, we will post your article.

NOTE: Your article will not show up in any newsgroups that it may be
crossposted to (e.g. other than comp.os.linux.announce) until we approve the
article. The delay should be negligible (we read email all the time), so
please don't post the same article separately to other groups. That
causes multiple copies to be sent around under most setups.

Please don't crosspost articles between comp.os.linux.announce and 
other Linux newsgroups (excepting very important announcements, namely the 
Linux FAQ, new kernel/library releases, and others which I'll crosspost at 
my discretion :) ). If enough c.o.l.a articles end up in junk on sites 
which don't carry the group, maybe they'll start to carry it.

If you don't get c.o.l.a at your site, please encourage your news admin to
create it. It's a bona fide group and we need to get wider distribution.

Remember: no announcement is too insignificant for this group. Don't be
afraid to submit something if you think it isn't important enough; that's
why we have moderators, to screen the content of the group. I plan to 
approve almost anything (announcement-wise) that's submitted.

The following guidelines should be used when submitting articles:

  - I will approve a wide range of articles for this group. The only postings
    that are discouraged are discussions and questions about Linux. 
    This group is mainly for:

    * Announcements of new software that has been ported to Linux
      (e.g. "DikuMUD v4.2 is now available on sunsite....")

    * Announcements of new versions or patchlevels of existing software,
      such as GCC, the kernel, libraries, new versions of utilities and so on.
      (e.g. "Linux v1.0 is finally available...")

    * Bug fixes and software patches (or announcements of available patches).
      If you have a fix for a known bug in any Linux software, please post
      the fix and the relevant patch (if any). If the patch is huge, instead
      post an announcement as to where it's available.
      (e.g. "Patch to fix broken 0.98.5 scsi.c....")

    * Summaries of responses for individual requests for information. If you
      requested some Linux-related information on c.o.l.h, and are posting a
      summary of that information, please submit it to c.o.l.a. 
      (e.g. "Summary: What's the best VGA card for Xfree86?")

    * Just about anything else of any importance. If you're not sure if you
      should post the article to c.o.l.a, submit it anyway. It can't hurt,
      and most of the time your article will be approved anyway.

  - When submitting articles, please include valid Newsgroups, Subject,
    Keywords, From, and Date lines in the header. These may either be in
    the mail header itself, or you may simply include the article, header
    and all, in the body of the mail message. Please don't send mail with
    only the body of the article to be posted, as this doesn't include
    the Newsgroups: line and other article-specific information.

  - When submitting articles, please use a descriptive Subject line. 
    If you crosspost the article to other groups, starting your subject with
    "ANNOUNCEMENT" helps it to stick out in those groups. If you're posting a 
    patch or summary, use "SUMMARY" or "PATCH" at the beginning of your
    subject, as "ANNOUNCEMENT" isn't quite appropriate.

  - Also, please use a Keywords line in your header, so that articles may
    be searched more easily in the archives (when we have the archives up).
    The Keywords field should contain one or more of the following:
      Type of announcement: new version, patch, urgent, summary, etc.
      Package: kernel, GCC, X, TeX, SLS, jump tables, etc.
      Type of program: A keyword or two on what your program is.
	This is especially important if the program isn't part of
	a well-known package. Ex: editor, tcpip utils, game, etc.
      Version: 0.98.5, jumptables 4.2, etc.

    For example, if you're announcing v4.2 of Shoopsort for Linux, you
    might want a subject and keywords that look like this:
      Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: Shoopsoft v4.2 now ported to Linux
      Keywords: Shoopsort 4.2, sorting algorithm, new port

    Or, if you're announcing a summary on ethernet cards for Linux, you
    could have:
      Subject: SUMMARY: Best ethernet cards for Linux TCP/IP
      Keywords: summary, ethernet, tcpip, cards, hardware

If you have any problems or questions, please contact the moderators at
linux-announce-request@tc.cornell.edu. 

Thanks,
Matt Welsh, comp.os.linux.announce moderator