Re: Replying to posts

[Werner LEMBERG]

> As far as I know this particular list does not have a list owner,
> and there are no published rules.

Of course there is a list owner.  However, up to now there wasn't a
single person who stomped our nuts too hard, so to say, forcing us to
banning him or her from the list.

In general, the list netiquette is quite simple.  Here's a small,
probably incomplete list.

  . Use plain text, not HTML.

  . Don't use top-posting.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting

  . Use UTF-8 encoding.

  . If you reply, properly cite to what you reply – and trim the
    e-mail so that everything you are not replying to gets removed.
    Obviously, your reply should be *below* the cited text.

  . Use the `reply-to-all' button so that the discussion stays on the
    list.  It is not helpful if answers are suddenly sent to
    individuals only.  Additionally, it helps to properly build up
    e-mail threads.

  . Don't use inline images, use simple attachments instead.

  . Stay polite and avoid ad-hominem attacks.

  . Provide a minimal working example (or a minimal not-working
    example).  The stress lies on *minimal*.  This shows us that you
    have at least tried to look into the manual before asking.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_Working_Example

    Additionally, especially with lilypond, a picture often says more
    than thousand words, so it is incredibly helpful if you attach a
    small PNG image also – don't use the BMP image format, by the way!

  . Don't hi-jack an e-mail thread.  Start a new thread instead if you
    want to discuss something new.  This also holds if a discussion is
    drifting too much from its original topic.

  . If you have a question, try to formulate it as concise as
    possible.  This increases your chances to get a quick reply.

  . Expect a turn-around of at least 48 hours for an answer.  This is
    a list of volunteers, not a paid hotline.  If you don't get a
    reply, there might be at least reasons.

      . Your request is too broad.  After two days or so, try to
        reformulate and be more concise, probably adding code,
        examples, images, etc.

      . Nobody knows the answer.

  . Use hard line breaks to have a line length of less than 80
    characters.

  . Avoid tab characters.


      Werner