strathspey@strathspey.org:53346

Cord Walter

Re: New threads please...

Aug. 8, 2008, 12:24 p.m. (Message 53346)

Campbell Tyler schrieb:
> Cord Walter wrote:
>> Campbell Tyler schrieb:
>> I have just hit the 200 programme mark, so time to publish an update.
>> Maybe I am a bit picky here, but I would appreciate that if someone 
>> starts a new topic he/she also starts a new thread instead of reusing an 
>> old thread [1] and just change the subject?
>> I made a screenshot to illustrate the point:
>> http://home.snafu.de/cord.walter/misc/new-thread.jpg
>> Just makes reading/organising the posts easier...
> 
> As the guilty party in this instance, all I can say is sorry but it is in
> total ignorance that I do that.  When the email leaves me, it has a totally
> new subject line with no reference to any earlier one, and I reply to an
> existing old email to ensure I get the address line right, avoiding typing
> errors.   Also when I get replies to my "new" thread they only reflect my

I guess that replying to an *old* email makes my mail program sorting it 
with the mails of the thread you "replied" to. But I guess Anselm is 
more firm with the respective RFCs to explain why this happens...

> 
> It does raise a general point in my mind.  I would very much like Anselm to
> provide a potted "Using Strathspey List 101" tutorial to cover points like
> this (my favourite hobby horse is getting people to sign their emails in
> full and where they are located - does that strike a Cord, Walter?? :-),

I'll give it a try ;)

> another being people contributing without indicating which email they are
> answering).  So, for instance, why do the people who have been on Strathspey
> longer than me, when changing threads always say "was....." and for how long
> should that stay?

In this case: I replied to your mail, to "connect" it to your post. But 
I changed the subject to indicate that I was not replying to the 
contents of your post...

I think it is a good rule to change the subject (with the (was: ...) 
addition when the discussion disgressed from the original thread to a 
related but different topic (e.g. from  discussing a dance in general to 
a discussion of intricate detail of passing left or right shoulder in 
certain formations ;) ). As for how long to keep the (was: ) - as short 
as possible I'd say :)

>  And when should a thread be changed?  

When starting a completely different/new subject (in my opinion)..

> In other words, the
> general etiquette that governs using Strathspey.  Or does it already exist?

I'm not aware of any clay tablets that these rules might be etched in ;) 
Apparently there are several unwritten rules (eg regarding the posting 
of dance instructions), and some rules that are part of "net culture" 
(eg. TOFU-Quoting etc.) which strathspeyers might or might not know, 
depending on their net usage (and if they ever came in contact with the 
scary thing called "Usenet" ;) ).

But I don't think we should bring in too much bureaucracy into 
Strathspey... I just wanted to raise a bit of concern regarding the 
"thread"-issue since I had posts popping up in "unexpected" threads 
since some time...

Anyway, in no way should anyone be distracted from posting to strathspey 
by technical or bereaucratic issues ;)

Bye,

Cord Walter
52"08'30.08N 9"57'32.89E :)
-- 
Cord Walter
email: xxxx.xxxxxx@xxx.xx
Public PGP-Key available on request

Weil es niemanden etwas angeht, dass ich nichts zu verbergen habe:
http://www.gnupg.org/
http://www.truecrypt.org/
...und überhaupt: http://www.FreiheitstattAngst.de