Netiquette at Free Geek

Netiquette is a word used to describe good manners or etiquette on the internet. While there are a few rules which may seem arbitrary, most of it is just common sense. For a more complete discussion of what netiquette means, the following links might be useful:

• http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette
• http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html

What we try to do with our email lists:

• Facilitate communication within and between working groups
• Allow those who can't always make it to the facility to participate and keep up-to-date
• Create a set of archives for reference
• Create a way for those outside of the Free Geek community to contact the group relevant to their interest

Nature of email communication: difficult to read undertone of what's being written.

Benefit of the doubt

Flaming defined and results of at FG

ALL CAPS

Send emails only to appropriate lists - check list descriptions if you're not sure

Snip out irrelevant comments

Craft relevant and specific subject headings

Plain text

Go easy on the cross-posting

When to take your reply off-list

Avoid attaching files: mailman refuses to handle it, won't go into archive. Refer to URL.

It's very dubious to assign a tone or emotion based on the contents of
an email. So lesson one is try to look at everyone's comments in the
best possible light before responding. This usually means if you a
little irritated by a message, take a break and then look at it anew
before responding. 

That being said, using ALL CAPS for statements is pretty universally
regarded as "shouting" on email lists. If your intention when meeting
the people in person is to shout, then you should use all caps in email.
But as a rule, I'd recomend against it.