figaro wrote:
Also, thanks to the others for pointing out how all this usenet crap
works.
I must admit, I had no idea what the reasons were for not posting
pictures
or HTML. I just thought it was some control-freak moderator type
stuff.
Now I understand. Gracias!

There are too many people out there who only know how they work, and
what they want. They flaunt the conventions, and post binaries in
non-binary groups, use html, top-post replies, fail to trim quotations,
or don't quote at all. They do this because they don't see how the
conventions, customs, and societal rules are relevant, and unilaterally
decide to ignore them. Reactions to those folks are why sometimes the
reaction to someone who honestly didn't know seems overly strong.

There are actually some good reasons behind all of the "rules". Not
everyone is using the newest version of some feature-bloated Windows
software, yet because so many people are, it's sometimes easy to forget
about client-side issues such as usenet software that doesn't like html.
And since most people have never been a server admin, they have little
frame of reference of the server-side issues involved.

There are relatively few moderated newsgroups. The majority of newgroups
exist only because people follow conventions. There are some newsgroups
out there where convention was ignored to the point that the name of the
group has become meaningless. They now are nothing but spam and punks
who think their anarchists. They got that way because the neighbors
didn't care.

Most of the time seeing the conventions modeled is all newcomers need.
"Gee, I see 24,000 posts, and not one binary. I guess I shouldn't be
posting binaries here." But occasionally someone either decides to go
ahead and do something "just this once", or they do it because they
didn't even notice that no one else does that kind of thing. And that's
when huge threads like this pop-up.

Is it a distraction to spend so much time on the mechanics of Usenet,
and it's societal conventions? Maybe. But based on the number of posts
so quickly made on this subject, it's not something that isn't of
interest to many.

No one has done anything horrific. No one died because of a couple of
html posts, or because of a binary (that was filtered out of the feed
many people get) that was posted. It was the equivalent of walking down
the hall on the left instead of the right. No one is banished from the
hallway because they walked on the wrong side, even if there was a minor
collision. We all just continue on, a little more aware that we're not
the only one who's using the hallway.

--
Warren H.

==========
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employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
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http://www.holzemville.com/community...are/index.html