[vorbis-dev] xiph.org mailing list FAQ [20020216]

[Monty]

Hello folks,

This is a periodic mailing of the FAQ[1] for the various xiph.org mailing
lists.  Hopefully, this FAQ will preemptively answer questions some
posters have.

[1] In this case FAQ == Frequently Answered Questions.  We answer 'em
before you ask 'em.  They're not rules, they're just the way it works.

1) Do not send subscribe/unsubscribe messages to the list; they'll be
   filtered and ignored by the mail list system and no one will ever
   see them.  Follow the instructions listed in the footer of every
   message.  Eg, to unsubscribe, send a message with the single word
   'unsubscribe' in the body to <listname>-request at xiph.org.  If you
   have trouble, a polite request to postmaster at xiph.org will get
   your request to a human.

2) When posting to the list, don't just ignore subject lines, or reply
   to messages that have nothing to do with what you're about to say.
   Sophisticated mail readers (like the ones many of the core
   developers use) thread conversations, and quite a few of us have
   our mail readers set up to totally ignore threads we've previously
   marked as uninteresting.  Landing an unrelated message in the middle
   of a totally different conversation which many of the core folk
   have marked as 'uninteresting' will just get you ignored.  We'll
   never see your mail.  We get hundereds of messages a day, and list
   mail simply has to take a low priority through batch handling like
   that.

   BTW, just editing the subject line is not enough to keep your
   message out of a thread if you hit 'Reply'.  A seperate header is
   embedded in the message called 'In-Reply-To'.  At a guess, the
   pretty graphical mail readers don't let you edit it, or even tell
   you that it's there.  If you want to start a new subject or
   conversation, hit 'New Message' please.  Not 'Reply'.

3) The list software does not allow email in HTML format; it is
   intentionally configured to drop all HTML formatted software on the
   ground with no error and no warning.  The primary motivation for
   this is to block mailspam; this trick alone filters 99% of the
   mailspam that would otherwise flood the lists.

   Outlook and Exchange, by default, tend to be configured to send
   everything in marked up, HTML-like format.  This markup is useless
   to most of us, takes up space, confuses the web archiving software
   and generally does nobody any good.  Oh... and it will cause your
   mail to get dropped; if you're confused why your posts aren't
   showing up on the list, this is probably the reason.  Please turn
   this formatting 'feature' off when posting to xiph.org lists.

That's all I can think of for now.  Happy posting.

Monty

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