mirror of
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Add Outlook-Quotefix reference.
[SVN r30685]
This commit is contained in:
Dave Abrahams
parent
b7dced1e51
commit
4bb558b67d
@ -1,129 +1,158 @@
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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<html>
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
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<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
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<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
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<title>Boost Discussion Policy</title>
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<meta name="generator" content=
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"HTML Tidy for Cygwin (vers 1st September 2004), see www.w3.org">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
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<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
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<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
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<title>Boost Discussion Policy</title>
|
||||
</head>
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<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
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<table border="1" bgcolor="#007F7F" cellpadding="2">
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<tr>
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<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><img src="../boost.png" alt=
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"boost.png (6897 bytes)" width="277" height="86"></td>
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<table border="1" bgcolor="#007F7F" cellpadding="2">
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<tr>
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<td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
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<img src="../boost.png" alt="boost.png (6897 bytes)" width="277" height="86"></td>
|
||||
<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>
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||||
</tr>
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||||
</table>
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||||
<td><a href="../index.htm"><font face="Arial" color=
|
||||
"#FFFFFF"><big>Home</big></font></a></td>
|
||||
|
||||
<h1>Boost Discussion Policy</h1>
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||||
<p>Email discussion is the tie that binds boost members together into a community.
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||||
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>
|
||||
<td><a href="../libs/libraries.htm"><font face="Arial" color=
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||||
"#FFFFFF"><big>Libraries</big></font></a></td>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2>Contents</h2>
|
||||
<dl>
|
||||
<dt><a href="#acceptable">Acceptable Topics</a><dd>
|
||||
<dt><a href="#unacceptable">Unacceptable Topics</a><dd>
|
||||
<dt><a href="#effective">Effective Posting</a><dd>
|
||||
<dt><a href="#behavior">Prohibited Behavior</a><dd>
|
||||
<dt><a href="#culture">Culture</a><dd>
|
||||
<dt><a href="#lib_names">Library Names</a><dd>
|
||||
</dl>
|
||||
<td><a href="../people/people.htm"><font face="Arial" color=
|
||||
"#FFFFFF"><big>People</big></font></a></td>
|
||||
|
||||
<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>
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||||
<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>
|
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<ul>
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<li>Advertisements for commercial products.</li>
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<li>Requests for help getting non-boost code to compile with your compiler.
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Try the comp.lang.c++.moderated newsgroup instead.</li>
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||||
<li>Requests for help interpreting the C++ standard. Try the comp.std.c++
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||||
<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=
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||||
"#FFFFFF"><big>More</big></font></a></td>
|
||||
</tr>
|
||||
</table>
|
||||
|
||||
<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></dt>
|
||||
|
||||
<dt><a href="#unacceptable">Unacceptable Topics</a></dt>
|
||||
|
||||
<dt><a href="#effective">Effective Posting</a></dt>
|
||||
|
||||
<dt><a href="#behavior">Prohibited Behavior</a></dt>
|
||||
|
||||
<dt><a href="#culture">Culture</a></dt>
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||||
|
||||
<dt><a href="#lib_names">Library Names</a></dt>
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||||
</dl>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2><a name="acceptable" id="acceptable"></a>Acceptable topics</h2>
|
||||
|
||||
<ul>
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<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>
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||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Other topics related to boost development may be acceptable, at the
|
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discretion of moderators. If unsure, go ahead and post. The moderators will
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let you know.</p>
|
||||
|
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<h2><a name="unacceptable" id="unacceptable"></a>Unacceptable Topics</h2>
|
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|
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<ul>
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<li>Advertisements for commercial products.</li>
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||||
|
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<li>Requests for help getting non-boost code to compile with your
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compiler. Try the comp.lang.c++.moderated newsgroup instead.</li>
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||||
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||||
<li>Requests for help interpreting the C++ standard. Try the comp.std.c++
|
||||
newsgroup instead.</li>
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<li>Job offers.</li>
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<li>Requests for solutions to homework assignments.</ul>
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<h2><a name="effective"></a>Effective Posting</h2>
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<li>Job offers.</li>
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<p>Most Boost mailing lists host a great deal of traffic, so your post
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is usually competing for attention with many other communications.
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This section describes how to make sure it has the desired impact.
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<li>Requests for solutions to homework assignments.</li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Well-Crafted Posting is Worth the Effort</h3>
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<h2><a name="effective" id="effective"></a>Effective Posting</h2>
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<p>Don't forget, you're a single writer but there are many readers,
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and you want them to stay interested in what you're saying. Saving
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||||
your readers a little time and effort is usually worth the extra time
|
||||
you spend when writing a message. Also, boost discussions are saved
|
||||
for posterity, as rationales and history of the work we do. A post's
|
||||
usefulness in the future is determined by its readability.
|
||||
<p>Most Boost mailing lists host a great deal of traffic, so your post is
|
||||
usually competing for attention with many other communications. This
|
||||
section describes how to make sure it has the desired impact.</p>
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<h3>Put the Library Name in the Subject Line</h3>
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<h3>Well-Crafted Posting is Worth the Effort</h3>
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<p>When your post is related to a particular Boost library, it's
|
||||
helpful to put the library name in square brackets at the beginning of
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the subject line, e.g.
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<p>Don't forget, you're a single writer but there are many readers, and you
|
||||
want them to stay interested in what you're saying. Saving your readers a
|
||||
little time and effort is usually worth the extra time you spend when
|
||||
writing a message. Also, boost discussions are saved for posterity, as
|
||||
rationales and history of the work we do. A post's usefulness in the future
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is determined by its readability.</p>
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<blockquote>
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Subject: [Regex] Why doesn't this pattern match?
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</blockquote>
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<h3>Put the Library Name in the Subject Line</h3>
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The Boost developers' list is a high-volume mailing list, and most
|
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maintainers don't have time to read every message. A tag on the
|
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subject line will help ensure the right people see your post.
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<p>When your post is related to a particular Boost library, it's helpful to
|
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put the library name in square brackets at the beginning of the subject
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line, e.g.</p>
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<p><a name="tabs"></a>
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<blockquote>
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Subject: [Regex] Why doesn't this pattern match?
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</blockquote>The Boost developers' list is a high-volume mailing list, and
|
||||
most maintainers don't have time to read every message. A tag on the
|
||||
subject line will help ensure the right people see your post.
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>Don't Use Tabs</h3>
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<p><a name="tabs" id="tabs"></a></p>
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If you use tabs to indent your source code, convert them to spaces
|
||||
before inserting the code in a posting. Something in the processing
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chain usually strips all the indentation and leaves a mess behind.
|
||||
<h3>Don't Use Tabs</h3>If you use tabs to indent your source code, convert
|
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them to spaces before inserting the code in a posting. Something in the
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processing chain usually strips all the indentation and leaves a mess
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behind.
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<p><a name="longlines"></a>
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<p><a name="longlines" id="longlines"></a></p>
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||||
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||||
<h3>Limit Line Length</h3>
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||||
<h3>Limit Line Length</h3>If you put source code in your postings and your
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||||
mailer wraps long lines automatically, either keep the code narrow or
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insert the code as an (inline, if possible) attachment. That will help
|
||||
ensure others can read what you've posted.
|
||||
|
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If you put source code in your postings and your mailer wraps long
|
||||
lines automatically, either keep the code narrow or insert the code as
|
||||
an (inline, if possible) attachment. That will help ensure others can
|
||||
read what you've posted.
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<p><a name="quoting" id="quoting"></a></p>
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<p><a name="quoting"></a>
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<h3>Don't Overquote</h3>Please <b>prune extraneous quoted text</b> from
|
||||
replies so that only the relevant parts are included. 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.
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>Don't Overquote</h3>
|
||||
Please <b>prune extraneous quoted text</b> from replies so that
|
||||
only the relevant parts are included. 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
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||||
you are responding to.
|
||||
<h3>Use a Readable Quotation Style</h3>
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>Use a Readable Quotation Style</h3>
|
||||
<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:
|
||||
<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:</p>
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<blockquote>
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<pre>
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<blockquote>
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<pre>
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||||
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<i>Person-you're-replying-to</i> wrote:
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@ -140,183 +169,199 @@ Your response to the second part of the message goes here.
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...
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</pre>
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</blockquote>
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</blockquote>For more information about effective use of quotation in
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posts, see <a href="http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html">this
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helpful guide</a>.
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For more information about effective use of quotation in posts, see <a
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href="http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html">this helpful
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guide</a>.
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<h3>Keep the Formatting of Quotations Consistent</h3>
|
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<h3>Keep the Formatting of Quotations Consistent</h3>
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<p>
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Some email and news clients use poor word wrapping algorithms that
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leave successive lines from the same quotation with differing numbers
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of leading "<tt>></tt>" characters. <b>Microsoft
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Outlook</b> and <b>Outlook Express</b>, and some web clients, are
|
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especially bad about this. If your client offends in this way, please
|
||||
take the effort to clean up the mess it makes in quoted text.
|
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Remember, even if you didn't write the original text, it's <i>your</i>
|
||||
posting; whether you get your point across depends on its readability.
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
The Microsoft clients also create an unusually verbose header at the
|
||||
beginning of the original message text and leave the cursor at the
|
||||
beginning of the message, which encourages users to write their
|
||||
replies before all of the quoted text rather than putting the reply in
|
||||
context. Outlook Express users can fix all of these problems
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automatically by installing
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<a href="http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/">OE
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QuoteFix</a>. Unfortunately there's no similar utility for Outlook
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Users; they will have to clean up their posts manually.
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<p>Some email and news clients use poor word wrapping algorithms that leave
|
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successive lines from the same quotation with differing numbers of leading
|
||||
"<tt>></tt>" characters. <b>Microsoft Outlook</b> and <b>Outlook
|
||||
Express</b>, and some web clients, are especially bad about this. If your
|
||||
client offends in this way, please take the effort to clean up the mess it
|
||||
makes in quoted text. Remember, even if you didn't write the original text,
|
||||
it's <i>your</i> posting; whether you get your point across depends on its
|
||||
readability.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>Summarizing and Referring to Earlier Messages</h3>
|
||||
<p>The Microsoft clients also create an unusually verbose header at the
|
||||
beginning of the original message text and leave the cursor at the
|
||||
beginning of the message, which encourages users to write their replies
|
||||
before all of the quoted text rather than putting the reply in context.
|
||||
Fortunately, Dominic Jain has written a utility that fixes all of these
|
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problems automatically: <a href=
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"http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/outlook-quotefix/">Outlook
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Quotefix</a> for Outlook Users and <a href=
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"http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/">OE QuoteFix</a> for
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users of Outlook Express.</p>
|
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|
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<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).
|
||||
<h3>Summarizing and Referring to Earlier Messages</h3>
|
||||
|
||||
<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>. To help to
|
||||
keep those URLs short, you can use <a
|
||||
href="http://www.tinyurl.com">tinyurl.com</a>. Citing the relevant
|
||||
portion of a message you link to is often helpful (if the citation is
|
||||
small).
|
||||
<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>
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>Maintain the Integrity of Discussion Threads</h3>
|
||||
<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>. To help to keep those
|
||||
URLs short, you can use <a href="http://www.tinyurl.com">tinyurl.com</a>.
|
||||
Citing the relevant portion of a message you link to is often helpful (if
|
||||
the citation is small).</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p><b>When starting a new topic, always send a fresh message</b>,
|
||||
rather than beginning a reply to some other message and replacing the
|
||||
subject and body. Many mailers are able to detect the thread you
|
||||
started with and will show the new message as part of the original
|
||||
thread, which probably isn't what you intended. Follow this guideline
|
||||
for your own sake as well as for others'. Often, people scanning for
|
||||
relevant messages will decide they're done with a topic and hide or
|
||||
kill the entire thread: your message will be missed, and you won't get
|
||||
the response you're looking for.
|
||||
<h3>Maintain the Integrity of Discussion Threads</h3>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>By the same token, <b>When replying to an existing message, use
|
||||
your mailer's "Reply" function</b>, so that the reply shows
|
||||
up as part of the same discussion thread.
|
||||
<p><b>When starting a new topic, always send a fresh message</b>, rather
|
||||
than beginning a reply to some other message and replacing the subject and
|
||||
body. Many mailers are able to detect the thread you started with and will
|
||||
show the new message as part of the original thread, which probably isn't
|
||||
what you intended. Follow this guideline for your own sake as well as for
|
||||
others'. Often, people scanning for relevant messages will decide they're
|
||||
done with a topic and hide or kill the entire thread: your message will be
|
||||
missed, and you won't get the response you're looking for.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p><b>Do not reply to digests</b> if you are a digest delivery
|
||||
subscriber. Your reply will not be properly threaded and will
|
||||
probably have the wrong subject line. Instead, you can reply through
|
||||
the <a href="http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.devel">GMane
|
||||
web interface</a>.
|
||||
<p>By the same token, <b>When replying to an existing message, use your
|
||||
mailer's "Reply" function</b>, so that the reply shows up as part of the
|
||||
same discussion thread.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p><b>Do not reply to digests</b> if you are a digest delivery subscriber.
|
||||
Your reply will not be properly threaded and will probably have the wrong
|
||||
subject line. Instead, you can reply through the <a href=
|
||||
"http://news.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lib.boost.devel">GMane web
|
||||
interface</a>.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h3>Keep The Size of Your Posting Manageable</h3>
|
||||
<h3>Keep The Size of Your Posting Manageable</h3>
|
||||
|
||||
<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>
|
||||
<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 "flame war" 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>
|
||||
<h2><a name="behavior" id="behavior"></a>Prohibited Behavior</h2>
|
||||
|
||||
<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>
|
||||
<p>Prohibited behavior will not be tolerated. The moderators will ban
|
||||
postings by abusers.</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 "will that compile?"
|
||||
or "won't that fail to compile, or am I missing something?" is a
|
||||
lot smoother than "That's really stupid - it won't compile."
|
||||
Saying "that fails to compile for me, and seems to violate section
|
||||
n.n.n of the standard" 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: "Let me think
|
||||
about that for a day or two. Let's take a time-out to digest the
|
||||
discussion so far."</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.
|
||||
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. </p>
|
||||
<h3>Flame wars</h3>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2><a name="lib_names"></a>Library Names</h2>
|
||||
<p>Personal insults, argument for the sake of argument, and all the other
|
||||
behaviors which fall into the "flame war" category are prohibited.
|
||||
Discussions should focus on technical arguments, not the personality traits
|
||||
or motives of participants.</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>In order to ensure a uniform presentation in books and articles, we
|
||||
have adopted a convention for referring to Boost libraries. Library
|
||||
names can either be written in a compact form with a dot, as
|
||||
"Boost.<i>Name</i>", or in a long form as "the
|
||||
Boost <i>Name</i> library." For example:
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<b>Boost.Python</b> serves a very different purpose from <b>the Boost Graph library</b>.
|
||||
</blockquote>
|
||||
Note that the word "library" is not part of the name, and as such isn't capitalized.
|
||||
<h3>Third-party attacks</h3>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Please take care to avoid confusion in discussions between
|
||||
libraries that have been accepted into Boost and those that have not.
|
||||
Acceptance as a Boost library indicates that the code and design have
|
||||
passed through our peer-review process; failing to make the
|
||||
distinction devalues the hard work of library authors who've gone
|
||||
through that process. Here are some suggested ways to describe
|
||||
potential Boost libraries:
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li>the proposed Boost <i>Name</i> library</li>
|
||||
<li>the Boost.<i>Name</i> candidate</li>
|
||||
<li>the <i>Name</i> library</i> (probably the best choice where applicable)</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
<p>Note that this policy only applies to discussions, not to the
|
||||
documentation, directory structure, or even identifiers in the
|
||||
code of potential Boost libraries.
|
||||
<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>
|
||||
|
||||
<hr>
|
||||
<p>Revised <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->28 May, 2005<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="38549" endspan -->
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
<p>© Beman Dawes, Rob Stewart, and David Abrahams 2000-2005</p>
|
||||
<p> Distributed under 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>
|
||||
<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" id="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 "will that compile?" or
|
||||
"won't that fail to compile, or am I missing something?" is a lot
|
||||
smoother than "That's really stupid - it won't compile." Saying
|
||||
"that fails to compile for me, and seems to violate section n.n.n of the
|
||||
standard" 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: "Let me think about
|
||||
that for a day or two. Let's take a time-out to digest the discussion so
|
||||
far."</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. 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. </p>
|
||||
|
||||
<h2><a name="lib_names" id="lib_names"></a>Library Names</h2>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>In order to ensure a uniform presentation in books and articles, we have
|
||||
adopted a convention for referring to Boost libraries. Library names can
|
||||
either be written in a compact form with a dot, as "Boost.<i>Name</i>", or
|
||||
in a long form as "the Boost <i>Name</i> library." For example:</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<blockquote>
|
||||
<b>Boost.Python</b> serves a very different purpose from <b>the Boost
|
||||
Graph library</b>.
|
||||
</blockquote>Note that the word "library" is not part of the name, and as
|
||||
such isn't capitalized.
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Please take care to avoid confusion in discussions between libraries
|
||||
that have been accepted into Boost and those that have not. Acceptance as a
|
||||
Boost library indicates that the code and design have passed through our
|
||||
peer-review process; failing to make the distinction devalues the hard work
|
||||
of library authors who've gone through that process. Here are some
|
||||
suggested ways to describe potential Boost libraries:</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<ul>
|
||||
<li>the proposed Boost <i>Name</i> library</li>
|
||||
|
||||
<li>the Boost.<i>Name</i> candidate</li>
|
||||
|
||||
<li>the <i>Name</i> library (probably the best choice where
|
||||
applicable)</li>
|
||||
</ul>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Note that this policy only applies to discussions, not to the
|
||||
documentation, directory structure, or even identifiers in the code of
|
||||
potential Boost libraries.</p>
|
||||
<hr>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Revised
|
||||
<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->28
|
||||
May, 2005<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" i-checksum="38549" endspan --></p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>© Beman Dawes, Rob Stewart, and David Abrahams 2000-2005</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>Distributed under 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>
|
||||
</body>
|
||||
|
||||
</html>
|
||||
|
||||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue
Block a user