Internet Info 1997 December/Internet_Info_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1997.iso/faqs/alt/answers/usenet/reposts-faq

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Subject: alt.usenet.reposts (AUR) and alt.usenet.reposts.d (AURd) Frequently Asked Questions
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        alt.usenet.reposts (AUR) and alt.usenet.reposts.d (AURd)
                       Frequently Asked Questions

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Invocation and introduction

O Muse, all contributions to alt.usenet.reposts (AUR) are welcome,
providing their posts conform to the posting guidelines contained in
this document.  Please read it before posting anything to AUR.

This is also the FAQ for alt.usenet.reposts.d (AURd).

The latest version of this FAQ can be found here:
<ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/faqs/usenet/reposts-faq>
<ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers/usenet/reposts-faq.Z> (compressed)

------------------------------

Subject: 1. Table of contents

     0. Invocation and introduction
     1. Table of contents
     2. What is AUR?
     3. How to do it
          3.1. Participating in AUR
          3.2. How to post to AUR
          3.3. Uppity news software
     4. What you should not do in AUR
          4.1. Discussions
          4.2. Unwelcome communications
          4.3. Cascades
          4.4. Crossposts
          4.5. Self-abuse
          4.6. Non-articles
     5. What to post to AURd
          5.1. Mission statement
          5.2. Discussing articles
          5.3. Protocol questions
     6. What is missing from this version of the FAQ
     7. Credits and valediction

------------------------------

Subject: 2. What is AUR?

AUR is alt.usenet.reposts.  Like some other newsgroups, it has a
purpose.

The newsgroup alt.usenet.reposts was created to contain articles that
people have read in other newsgroups that other people might find
amusing or interesting:  There are tens of thousands of groups out
there, and even if you wanted to, you could not read them all.

For the purpose of AUR, "Usenet" encompasses all newsgroups, not just
the classic "Big Eight" hierarchies.

AUR is meant to offer a broad range of useful information, witty
rejoinders, cute newbie antics, and stimulating flame wars, all of which
you can observe from here in perfect safety.  (Metaphor only.  Actual
perfect safety not guaranteed.)

AUR differs from rec.humor.funny in that, inter alia, it is limited to
reposts of Usenet articles, and from alt.humor.best-of-usenet in that
(1) it is unmoderated and (2) it is not limited to humorous material.
Any newsgroup article of interest to a wide audience may be reposted to
AUR.  Another cognate group is alt.best.of.internet (ABOI), which,
though like AUR as to points 1 and 2, does not limit its reposts to
Usenet.

AUR is for reposting only.  Please do not post any original articles or
existing reposts (e.g., articles found in alt.humor.best-of-usenet) to
AUR.

------------------------------

Subject: 3. How to do it

3.1. Participating in AUR

AUR is an unmoderated newsgroup.  Anyone can post to AUR as long as his
posts conform to the guidelines of this FAQ.

Please subscribe to AURd if you read AUR.  It will be useful if there
are any important changes to the group, or if a discussion gets going
about some post.  Stranger things have happened.  (Subject: 5 contains
information on AURd.)

AUR is based on participation.  AUR gets nowhere if people do not bother
to post.  So please, when you are reading other newsgroups, keep AUR in
mind.  Reposting an article does not take very long if you know what you
are doing, and, for that matter, even if you do not.

3.2. How to post to AUR

   [a] Read a newsgroup other than AUR.  Remarkable articles are found
   in unlikely places.

   [b] Find an article (not a binary or a repost) that is funny,
   entertaining, intelligent, thought-provoking, or otherwise
   interesting.  If you like the article, and you think others might
   want to read it, that is perfect.  And if they do not like it, that
   is one of the things AURd is for.

   [c] Historically, AUR formatting has been rather flexible within
   certain limits.  Here is a suggested procedure:

      (i) "Follow up" the article, but instead of leaving the
      "Newsgroups:" header as you find it, delete all of the groups
      and substitute "alt.usenet.reposts".

      (ii) In addition, create a "Followup-To:" header that contains
      "alt.usenet.reposts.d".  In addition, you may include the
      originating group, but be careful to put any moderated groups at
      the end of the list.

      (iii) Be sure that there is something at the top of the new
      article's body (the old headers or a clear introductory line)
      that tells the name of the newsgroup where you found the article
      and the name in the original "From:" header.

      (iv) Append "AUR: " to the beginning of the "Subject:" header's
      argument.  If your newsreader added a "Re: " to the original
      subject line, remove it.

      (v) Your comments about the article may be added at the top of
      the body; these should be brief, and probably not be substantive
      with respect to the theme of the article.  Shorten or excerpt
      the original article only in extreme cases, but do not otherwise
      "improve" it.  Any elisions, or comments that you put in the
      body of the article, should be clearly distinguishable from the work
      of the original author.

   [d] Any method other than "following up" that gets essentially the
   same results is acceptable.  In fact, it is preferable to use a
   method that does not add a layer of backquote symbols to the
   original article.

   [e] If all this is just too overwhelming, simply e-mail the article
   (including as much of the headers section as possible) to <aur-
   [e-mail]> and we shall take care of it for you.  (This offer
   may be administered capriciously and withdrawn at any time.  Void where
   taxed or restricted.)

   [f] Here is an example of one of the several proper ways to format
   an AUR article.  The first three lines are headers, not the body of the
   article.

      Subject: AUR: The Wacky World of Wardrobes
      Newsgroups: alt.usenet.reposts
      Followup-To: alt.usenet.reposts.d,alt.wardrobe.moderated

      The unintended results of those ridiculous wardrobe import
      controls can lead to some funny moments, as:

      Jane Q. Public <[e-mail]> writes in alt.wardrobe.moderated:

      >The other day a Colombian wardrobe being held in the warehouse
      >of a customs broker near Miami International Airport suddenly
      >burst open, engulfing a friend of mine in a mysterious white,

      [snip]

3.3. Uppity news software

Problem: "I cannot post this article because my news server says 'Error
441: More quoted than new text'."

Delete the column of backquote characters on the left end of each line.
(These are usually ">".)  Then the news server cannot tell which is the
quoted text.  Make sure the reader of the article still can.

------------------------------

Subject: 4. What you should not do in AUR

4.1. Discussions

Do not discuss articles posted to AUR in this group.  AUR is only for
reposting articles.  AURd (alt.usenet.reposts.d) is the place to discuss
articles posted to AUR--in fact, this is exactly what AURd was created
for.  (Subject: 5 contains information on AURd.)  To reply to an article
posted in AUR use your newsreader's "reply" command, and be sure that
the "Newsgroups:" header of the new article does not contain
"alt.usenet.reposts".

4.2. Unwelcome communications

Do not use AUR for your own advertisements, web site promotion (even if
nonprofit), general announcements or appeals (including virus warnings
and personals), other spam, or general irrelevancies.  (Have we missed
anything?)

Those who post such messages in AUR should not be surprised if AUR
readers use various lawful means, including forceful and repeated
complaints to addresses such as <postmaster@___.com>, <root@___.org>,
<abuse@___.net>.  This has been known to work.

On the other hand, if you find the article in one of the taboo
categories to be interesting or funny then by all means repost it.

4.3. Cascades

Do not build huge, irrelevant, cumulative threads in AUR.  Threads
called cascades are usually one-line posts that continue a rhyme or a
theme.  Most people resent having to deal with them.  Those who do like
them can go to alt.cascade and rec.humor.

4.4. Crossposts

Articles to AUR should not be crossposted.  A crosspost is an article
with more than one group in the "Newsgroups:" header.  As the default,
replies to crossposts will appear in every group in which the original
article appeared.  If someone "follows up" with a reply to a message
crossposted to AUR, the reply will appear in AUR, thus creating an
original article.  But original articles are off-topic for AUR, since
AUR is only for reposts.  What a mess.

Exception:  Crossposting reposts to ABOI is usually tolerated, since
ABOI is also a reposts group.  If you do this, remember to put AURd in
the "Followup-To:" header.

Clarification:  This is not intended to rule out putting more than one
group in your own repost's "Followup-To:" header, or otherwise
crossposting to AURd.

4.5. Self-abuse

Do not repost your own article to AUR.

When you repost to AUR, you have to make a judgment call:  You have to
decide whether a certain article is good enough to deserve being
reposted.  This is your sacred right.  (Offer limited to certain Western
democracies, and, even then, metaphor only.  Actual sacred right not
guaranteed.)

Unfortunately, this means that just about anybody can post just about
anything, as long as it was originally posted somewhere else.  Because
some people tend to think that their writing is funnier or more
interesting than it actually is, self-reposting usually induces eventual
remorse.  So please do not repost articles you wrote yourself.  If your
article is really good, someone else may conceivably discover it.  Sorry
about this rule, but it is something that must be done.

4.6. Non-articles

Do not post non-articles, such as messages from mailing lists or WWW
pages to AUR.  Find a more appropriate group.  Try rec.humor for jokes,
ABOI or another group for other kinds of messages, to AUR.  If it is on
Usenet in any form, you can repost it to AUR.  Otherwise, take it
somewhere else.

------------------------------

Subject: 5. What to post to AURd

5.1. Mission statement

AURd was created as a safety valve for AUR.  Basically, anything related
to AUR that is not a repost can be posted to AURd.  If you want to start
a discussion and you cannot post to AURd, please e-mail the FAQ-keeper
([e-mail]>), who can post your question to AURd for you and get
the discussion going.  Of course if you cannot post to AURd the odds are
overwhelming that you cannot read it either, so you will miss the
ensuing discussion.  Well, no sense worrying about that now.

5.2. Discussing articles

If you want to discuss an article posted to AUR, you have a few options.
You can use e-mail if you want to reply only to one person, such as the
author of the original article.  But take care that you're not replying
to the reposter instead, by mistake.  You can also "follow up" to the
group that the article came from if you think your reply would be on
topic.  Unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to tell whether your reply
will be on-topic, especially if the original article was obviously off-
topic.

A third option is to post to AURd.  AURd can be used for general
discussion of the articles posted to AUR.  Or, if you have something to
add to an article you reposted to AUR, you might post it to AURd as a
reply to your own article.

5.3. Protocol questions

Questions of group protocol can be posted to AURd if you are having
problems.  Also, if you have a suggestion for AUR, start a discussion in
AURd.  Some, and perhaps all, readers of AUR read AURd and would be
interested in hearing suggestions.  The rules of AUR are not set in
stone, but new policies have to be approved, or at least discussed, by
AUR readers in general.  The FAQ-keeper makes no material rule changes
without a stab at consensus.

------------------------------

Subject: 6. What is missing from this version of the FAQ

Previous versions of this FAQ contained an abundance of uplifting words
touching on Usenet customs and manners.  Fortunately for those who wish
to read helpful exhortations in this vein, there remains the ABOI FAQ,
from which the great preponderance of that writing was closely adapted.
It is at <ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/faqs/best-of-internet-faq>.

------------------------------

Subject: 7. Credits and valediction

This FAQ is a ruthlessly abbreviated and otherwise roughed-up adaptation
by the present FAQ-Keeper (<[e-mail]>) of the one previously
adapted by FAQ-keeper Emeritus Marcus Lauer (<[e-mail]>),
to whose spirit AUR owes more than can be properly said here, from

Matti Haack's ABOI FAQ.  This in turn was based on an older FAQ
created by Malinda McCall, a/k/a net.goddess (<[e-mail]>),
and Onno Benschop (<[e-mail]>).

Thanks are also due to:

<[e-mail]>
<[e-mail]>
<[e-mail]>
<[e-mail]>
<[e-mail]>

and others, whose names are lost in the mists of time, who helped
correct mistakes and came up with new ideas.  The reader is encouraged
to aspire to this illustrious list.