Horse,
I'm glad to see an airing of the proposed moq_discuss rules for general
debate. Here are some suggestions for improvement based my my reading of
Occam's Razor ;-)
At 1:02 AM +0000 12/20/1998, Horse wrote:
>An 'Open' policy of subscribing and unsubscribing currently exists to make it
>convenient for members and prospective members to come and go as they see
>fit. The list administrator reserves the right to change the subscribe
>policy status
>to 'Closed'.
What's the technical definition of 'Open' & 'Closed'? If the Lila Squad is
closed, do we need that provision here? It *sounds* draconian and I think
that's why others have reacted so violently.
>MOQ_DISCUSS is currently an unmoderated mailing list. Members should be
>aware that the Rules of the list should be adhered to in order that
>discussions can
>be conducted in in a civilized and reasonably curteous manner. The list
>administrator reserves the right to change the unmoderated status to
>moderated.
Courteous is the proper spelling.
If the Lila Squad is moderated, do we need the provision of the last
sentence? I'd axe it. If you want to make the list administrator's role
clear, don't do it every time, just make a blanket statement that these
rules are subject to change under the guidance of the list administrator.
>Discussion topics do not need to be initiated by any group or by agreement.
>Members are free to initiate a new discussion topic by posting a message
>announcing a new topic.
With a subject line identifying the new topic?
>MOQ_DISCUSS RULES
>
>1) All members must have read either or both of R.M.Pirsig's books, Zen
>and the
>Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or Lila - An Inquiry into Morals.
If you're going to use Lila's subtitle, use ZMM's subtitle (An Inquiry into
Values) for consistency.
>2) Each member may post no more than one message per topic/discussion item
>in any 24 hour period.
I think time limit rules will be very useful for the Lila Squad, but I
don't know that should be carried over here. I'd vote against it on grounds
that this list should remain as open as possible while still carrying on a
relevant discussion.
>3) All topics for discussion must be directly relevant to some aspect of
>Zen and
>the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Lila - An Inquiry into Morals or the
>Metaphysics of Quality.
"or the Metaphysics of Quality in general." Same comment as before: use
ZMM's subtitle if you're going to use Lila's.
>4) Contributors will reproduce only those parts of any previous message to
>which
>they are responding. There will be no wholesale inclusion of the original
>message.
Drop the second sentence as the first says it well enough.
>5) Reproduce the Subject line of the thread/discussion. The mailing list
>archive at
>http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
>groups posts by subject. If you stick to the subject line then it makes it
>easier to
>follow an archived thread.
With this rule you've changed from third-person to second person. It would
be easier to follow if you kept the wording consistent.
>5) No personal messages or 'Chat'. All posts should be relevant to the
>subject of
>the thread or discussion topic. Personal messages should go via personal
>email.
>In the case of an emergency or exceptional circumstances contact the list
>administrator.
Rule #3 should cover this case. It's divisive to give it a separate rule.
I'd recommend dropping it.
>6) Posts should be restricted to plain text - no html, rich text etc. and
>must not
>contain attachments, gifs or other documents except by arrangement with
>the list
>administrator. MOQ_DISCUSS should not be used as a file transfer/document
>exchange service. Use FTP or the Web (put your file/document on the Web and
>mail the list its URL).
Explain why HTML and rich text, etc. are bad in this rule so people
understand the restriction.
>7) Members should refrain from swearing, using offensive language or personal
>attacks on other members. Abuse, in any form, will not be tolerated on the
>list.
I think you mean "and personal attacks" not "or personal attacks".
Cheers,
Keith
______________________________________________________________________
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