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<h1>Boost Discussion Policy</h1>
<p>Email discussion is the tie that binds boost members together into a community.
If the discussion is stimulating and effective, the community thrives. If
the discussion degenerates into name calling and ill will, the community withers
and dies.</p>

<h2>Contents</h2>
<dl>
  <dt><a href="#acceptable">Acceptable Topics</a><dd>
      <dt><a href="#unacceptable">Unacceptable Topics</a><dd>
          <dt><a href="#quoting">Quoting and Message Size</a><dd>
              <dt><a href="#behavior">Prohibited Behavior</a><dd>
                  <dt><a href="#culture">Culture</a><dd>
                      </dl>

<h2><a name="acceptable"></a>Acceptable topics</h2>
<ul>
  <li>Queries to determine interest in a possible library submission.</li>
  <li>Technical discussions about a proposed or existing library, including bug
    reports and requests for help.</li>
  <li>Formal Reviews of proposed libraries.</li>
  <li>Reports of user experiences with Boost libraries.</li>
  <li>Boost administration or policies.</li>
  <li>Compiler specific workarounds as applied to Boost libraries.</li>
</ul>
<p>Other topics related to boost development may be acceptable, at the discretion of moderators. If unsure, go ahead and post. The moderators
will let you know.</p>
<h2><a name="unacceptable"></a>Unacceptable topics</h2>
<ul>
  <li>Advertisements for commercial products.</li>
  <li>Requests for help getting non-boost code to compile with your compiler.
    Try the comp.lang.c++.moderated newsgroup instead.</li>
  <li>Requests for help interpreting the C++ standard. Try the comp.std.c++
    newsgroup instead.</li>
  <li>Job offers.</li>
  <li>Requests for solutions to homework assignments.</ul>
<h2><a name="quoting"></a>Quoting and Message Size</h2>

<p>Please <b>limit the amount of quoted text</b> in replies to this
list.  Some people have to pay for, or wait for, each byte that they
download from the list.  More importantly, it will save time and make
your post more valuable when readers do not have to find out which
exact part of a previous message you are responding to.

<p>A common and very useful approach is to cite the small fractions of
the message you are actually responding to and to put your response
directly beneath each citation, with a blank line separating them for
readability:

<blockquote>
<pre>

&gt; Some part of a paragraph that you wish to reply to goes 
&gt; here; there may be several lines.

Your response to that part of the message goes here.  There may,
of course, be several lines.

&gt; The second part of the  paragraph that is relevant to your 
&gt; reply goes here; agiain there may be several lines.

Your response to the second part of the message goes here.
...

</pre>
</blockquote>

For more information about effective use of quotation in posts, see <a
href="http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html">this helpful
guide</a>.

<p>A summary of the foregoing thread is only needed after a long
discussion, especially when the topic is drifting or a result has been
achieved in a discussion.  The mail system will do the tracking that
is needed to enable mail readers to display message threads (and every
decent mail reader supports that).

<p>If you ever have to refer to single message earlier in a thread or
in a different thread then you can use a URL to the <a
href="mailing_lists.htm#archive">message archives</a>. tinyurl.com can
help to keep those URLs short. Citing the relevant portion of a
message you link to is often helpful (if the citation is small).

<p>Don't forget, it's a single writer but there are many readers.
So, saving some time for the readers is worth spending extra
time when writing a message.

<p>The mailing list software automatically limits message and
attachment size to a reasonable amount, typically 75K, which is
adjusted from time-to-time by the moderators.. This limit is a
courtesy to those who rely on dial-up Internet access.
</p>

<h2><a name="behavior"></a>Prohibited behavior</h2>
<p>Prohibited behavior will not be tolerated. The moderators will ban
postings by abusers.</p>
<h3>Flame wars</h3>
<p>Personal insults, argument for the sake of argument, and all the other
behaviors which fall into the &quot;flame war&quot; category are
prohibited. Discussions should focus on technical arguments, not the
personality traits or motives of participants.</p>
<h3>Third-party attacks</h3>
<p>Attacks on third parties such as software vendors, hardware vendors, or any
other organizations, are prohibited. Boost exists to unite and serve the
entire C++ community, not to disparage the work of others.</p>
<p>Does this mean that we ban the occasional complaint or wry remark about a
troublesome compiler? No, but be wary of overdoing it.</p>
<h3>Off-topic posts</h3>
<p>Discussions which stray from the acceptable topics are strongly discouraged.
While off-topic posts are often well meaning and not as individually corrosive
as other abuses, cumulatively the distraction damages the effectiveness of
discussion.</p>
<h2><a name="culture"></a>Culture</h2>
<p>In addition to technical skills, Boost members value collaboration,
acknowledgement of the help of others, and a certain level of politeness. Boost
membership is very international, and ranges widely in age and other
characteristics. Think of discussion as occurring among colleagues in a widely read forum, rather
than among a few close friends.</p>

<p>Always remember that the cumulative effort spent by people reading
your contribution scales with the (already large) number of boost
members.  Thus, do invest time and effort to make your message as
readable as possible.  Adhere to English syntax and grammar rules such
as proper capitalization.  Avoid copious informalism, colloquial
language, or abbreviations, they may not be understood by all readers.
Re-read your message before submitting it.</p>

<h2>Guidelines for effective discussions</h2>
<p>Apply social engineering to prevent heated technical discussion from
degenerating into a shouting match, and to actively encourage the cooperation 
upon which Boost depends.</p>
<ul>
  <li>Questions help. If someone suggests something that you don't think
    will work, then replying with a question like &quot;will that compile?&quot;
    or &quot;won't that fail to compile, or am I missing something?&quot; is a
    lot smoother than &quot;That's really stupid - it won't compile.&quot;&nbsp;
    Saying &quot;that fails to compile for me, and seems to violate section
    n.n.n of the standard&quot; would be yet another way to be firm without
    being abrasive.</li>
  <li>If most of the discussion has been code-free generalities, posting a bit
    of sample code can focus people on the practical issues.</li>
  <li>If most of the discussion has been in terms of specific code, try to talk
    a bit about hidden assumptions and generalities that may be preventing
    discussion closure.</li>
  <li>Taking a time-out is often effective. Just say: &quot;Let me think
    about that for a day or two. Let's take a time-out to digest the
    discussion so far.&quot;</li>
</ul>
<p>Avoid Parkinson's Bicycle Shed. Parkinson described a committee formed
to oversee design of an early nuclear power plant. There were three agenda
items - when to have tea, where to put the bicycle shed, and how to
ensure nuclear safety. Tea was disposed of quickly as trivial.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Nuclear safety was discussed for only
an hour - it was so complex, scary, and technical that even
among experts few felt comfortable with the issues. Endless days were then
spent discussing where to put the bicycle shed (the parking lot would
be a modern equivalent) because everyone
understood the issues and felt comfortable discussing them.&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->02 October, 2003<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="38549" endspan -->
</p>

<p><EFBFBD> Beman Dawes 2000</p>
<p> Use, modification, and distribution are subject to the Boost Software 
License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file <a href="../LICENSE_1_0.txt">
LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">
www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</p>

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+								<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
 								<title>Boost Discussion Policy</title>
 								</head>
 								<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
 								<table border="1" bgcolor="#007F7F" cellpadding="2">
 								  <tr>
-												Add "cooperation" wording


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+								    <td><a href="../index.htm"><font face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF"><big>Home</big></font></a></td>
 								    <td><a href="../libs/libraries.htm"><font face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF"><big>Libraries</big></font></a></td>
 								    <td><a href="../people/people.htm"><font face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF"><big>People</big></font></a></td>
 								    <td><a href="faq.htm"><font face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF"><big>FAQ</big></font></a></td>
 								    <td><a href="index.htm"><font face="Arial" color="#FFFFFF"><big>More</big></font></a></td>
 								  </tr>
 								</table>
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											2003-11-17 02:14:49 +08:00
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<h1>Boost Discussion Policy</h1>
 								<p>Email discussion is the tie that binds boost members together into a community.
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								If the discussion is stimulating and effective, the community thrives. If
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								the discussion degenerates into name calling and ill will, the community withers
 								and dies.</p>
-												Added helpful quoting hints from Martin Wille


[SVN r20819]

											
										
										
											2003-11-17 02:14:49 +08:00
 								<h2>Contents</h2>
 								<dl>
 								  <dt><a href="#acceptable">Acceptable Topics</a><dd>
 								      <dt><a href="#unacceptable">Unacceptable Topics</a><dd>
 								          <dt><a href="#quoting">Quoting and Message Size</a><dd>
 								              <dt><a href="#behavior">Prohibited Behavior</a><dd>
 								                  <dt><a href="#culture">Culture</a><dd>
 								                      </dl>
 								<h2><a name="acceptable"></a>Acceptable topics</h2>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<ul>
 								  <li>Queries to determine interest in a possible library submission.</li>
 								  <li>Technical discussions about a proposed or existing library, including bug
 								    reports and requests for help.</li>
 								  <li>Formal Reviews of proposed libraries.</li>
 								  <li>Reports of user experiences with Boost libraries.</li>
 								  <li>Boost administration or policies.</li>
 								  <li>Compiler specific workarounds as applied to Boost libraries.</li>
 								</ul>
 								<p>Other topics related to boost development may be acceptable, at the discretion of moderators. If unsure, go ahead and post. The moderators
 								will let you know.</p>
-												Added helpful quoting hints from Martin Wille


[SVN r20819]

											
										
										
											2003-11-17 02:14:49 +08:00
+								<h2><a name="unacceptable"></a>Unacceptable topics</h2>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<ul>
 								  <li>Advertisements for commercial products.</li>
 								  <li>Requests for help getting non-boost code to compile with your compiler.
 								    Try the comp.lang.c++.moderated newsgroup instead.</li>
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								  <li>Requests for help interpreting the C++ standard. Try the comp.std.c++
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								    newsgroup instead.</li>
-												job offers are not acceptable
use readable English


[SVN r10326]

											
										
										
											2001-06-14 18:42:21 +08:00
+								  <li>Job offers.</li>
-												Improve consistency between several pages


[SVN r13833]

											
										
										
											2002-05-13 22:43:56 +08:00
+								  <li>Requests for solutions to homework assignments.</ul>
-												Added helpful quoting hints from Martin Wille


[SVN r20819]

											
										
										
											2003-11-17 02:14:49 +08:00
+								<h2><a name="quoting"></a>Quoting and Message Size</h2>
 								<p>Please <b>limit the amount of quoted text</b> in replies to this
 								list.  Some people have to pay for, or wait for, each byte that they
 								download from the list.  More importantly, it will save time and make
 								your post more valuable when readers do not have to find out which
 								exact part of a previous message you are responding to.
 								<p>A common and very useful approach is to cite the small fractions of
 								the message you are actually responding to and to put your response
 								directly beneath each citation, with a blank line separating them for
 								readability:
 								<blockquote>
 								<pre>
 								&gt; Some part of a paragraph that you wish to reply to goes
 								&gt; here; there may be several lines.
 								Your response to that part of the message goes here.  There may,
 								of course, be several lines.
 								&gt; The second part of the  paragraph that is relevant to your
 								&gt; reply goes here; agiain there may be several lines.
 								Your response to the second part of the message goes here.
 								...
 								</pre>
 								</blockquote>
 								For more information about effective use of quotation in posts, see <a
 								href="http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html">this helpful
 								guide</a>.
 								<p>A summary of the foregoing thread is only needed after a long
 								discussion, especially when the topic is drifting or a result has been
 								achieved in a discussion.  The mail system will do the tracking that
 								is needed to enable mail readers to display message threads (and every
 								decent mail reader supports that).
 								<p>If you ever have to refer to single message earlier in a thread or
 								in a different thread then you can use a URL to the <a
 								href="mailing_lists.htm#archive">message archives</a>. tinyurl.com can
 								help to keep those URLs short. Citing the relevant portion of a
 								message you link to is often helpful (if the citation is small).
 								<p>Don't forget, it's a single writer but there are many readers.
 								So, saving some time for the readers is worth spending extra
 								time when writing a message.
 								<p>The mailing list software automatically limits message and
 								attachment size to a reasonable amount, typically 75K, which is
 								adjusted from time-to-time by the moderators.. This limit is a
 								courtesy to those who rely on dial-up Internet access.
 								</p>
 								<h2><a name="behavior"></a>Prohibited behavior</h2>
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								<p>Prohibited behavior will not be tolerated. The moderators will ban
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								postings by abusers.</p>
 								<h3>Flame wars</h3>
 								<p>Personal insults, argument for the sake of argument, and all the other
 								behaviors which fall into the &quot;flame war&quot; category are
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								prohibited. Discussions should focus on technical arguments, not the
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								personality traits or motives of participants.</p>
 								<h3>Third-party attacks</h3>
 								<p>Attacks on third parties such as software vendors, hardware vendors, or any
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								other organizations, are prohibited. Boost exists to unite and serve the
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								entire C++ community, not to disparage the work of others.</p>
 								<p>Does this mean that we ban the occasional complaint or wry remark about a
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								troublesome compiler? No, but be wary of overdoing it.</p>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<h3>Off-topic posts</h3>
 								<p>Discussions which stray from the acceptable topics are strongly discouraged.
 								While off-topic posts are often well meaning and not as individually corrosive
 								as other abuses, cumulatively the distraction damages the effectiveness of
 								discussion.</p>
-												Added helpful quoting hints from Martin Wille


[SVN r20819]

											
										
										
											2003-11-17 02:14:49 +08:00
+								<h2><a name="culture"></a>Culture</h2>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<p>In addition to technical skills, Boost members value collaboration,
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								acknowledgement of the help of others, and a certain level of politeness. Boost
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								membership is very international, and ranges widely in age and other
 								characteristics. Think of discussion as occurring among colleagues in a widely read forum, rather
 								than among a few close friends.</p>
-												job offers are not acceptable
use readable English


[SVN r10326]

											
										
										
											2001-06-14 18:42:21 +08:00
 								<p>Always remember that the cumulative effort spent by people reading
 								your contribution scales with the (already large) number of boost
 								members.  Thus, do invest time and effort to make your message as
 								readable as possible.  Adhere to English syntax and grammar rules such
 								as proper capitalization.  Avoid copious informalism, colloquial
 								language, or abbreviations, they may not be understood by all readers.
 								Re-read your message before submitting it.</p>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<h2>Guidelines for effective discussions</h2>
 								<p>Apply social engineering to prevent heated technical discussion from
-												Add "cooperation" wording


[SVN r12515]

											
										
										
											2002-01-26 02:42:30 +08:00
+								degenerating into a shouting match, and to actively encourage the cooperation
 								upon which Boost depends.</p>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								<ul>
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								  <li>Questions help. If someone suggests something that you don't think
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								    will work, then replying with a question like &quot;will that compile?&quot;
 								    or &quot;won't that fail to compile, or am I missing something?&quot; is a
 								    lot smoother than &quot;That's really stupid - it won't compile.&quot;&nbsp;
 								    Saying &quot;that fails to compile for me, and seems to violate section
-												typo fix


[SVN r8528]

											
										
										
											2001-01-08 05:44:40 +08:00
+								    n.n.n of the standard&quot; would be yet another way to be firm without
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								    being abrasive.</li>
 								  <li>If most of the discussion has been code-free generalities, posting a bit
 								    of sample code can focus people on the practical issues.</li>
 								  <li>If most of the discussion has been in terms of specific code, try to talk
 								    a bit about hidden assumptions and generalities that may be preventing
 								    discussion closure.</li>
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								  <li>Taking a time-out is often effective. Just say: &quot;Let me think
 								    about that for a day or two. Let's take a time-out to digest the
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								    discussion so far.&quot;</li>
 								</ul>
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								<p>Avoid Parkinson's Bicycle Shed. Parkinson described a committee formed
 								to oversee design of an early nuclear power plant. There were three agenda
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								items - when to have tea, where to put the bicycle shed, and how to
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								ensure nuclear safety. Tea was disposed of quickly as trivial.&nbsp;&nbsp;
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								Nuclear safety was discussed for only
 								an hour - it was so complex, scary, and technical that even
-												Added prohibition against requesting help with homework.


[SVN r11371]

											
										
										
											2001-10-10 19:23:18 +08:00
+								among experts few felt comfortable with the issues. Endless days were then
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								spent discussing where to put the bicycle shed (the parking lot would
 								be a modern equivalent) because everyone
 								understood the issues and felt comfortable discussing them.&nbsp;</p>
 								<hr>
-												Update copyright and license info


[SVN r20242]

											
										
										
											2003-10-02 22:42:46 +08:00
+								<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->02 October, 2003<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="38549" endspan -->
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								</p>
-												Update copyright and license info


[SVN r20242]

											
										
										
											2003-10-02 22:42:46 +08:00
+								<p><EFBFBD> Beman Dawes 2000</p>
-												update license reference


[SVN r20286]

											
										
										
											2003-10-07 22:17:54 +08:00
+								<p> Use, modification, and distribution are subject to the Boost Software
-												Update copyright and license info


[SVN r20242]

											
										
										
											2003-10-02 22:42:46 +08:00
+								License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying file <a href="../LICENSE_1_0.txt">
 								LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">
 								www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</p>
-												Initial draft


[SVN r8500]

											
										
										
											2000-12-29 03:47:59 +08:00
+								</body>
-												Added helpful quoting hints from Martin Wille


[SVN r20819]

											
										
										
											2003-11-17 02:14:49 +08:00
+								</html>