Posting Etiquitte?

[Jeff Brown]

I hear people say not to multipost, does these mean not to ask the same
question in another group or to submit the question to all the groups via
the same submission, with multiple newsgroups in the "send to" box? Just a
curious question from someone who has only googled and altavista'd since the
beginning of time.

Jeff

 

[Fergus Cooney]

Hi Jeff,

Does cross-posting make us into cross posters?

Herfried is the one who polices the cross-posters mostly so I'll be
interested in his view.

My view is that if I see a lot of newsgroups I will tend not to answer
until some time has passed, as there will be a lot of people viewing and
possibly offering their solutions. But that assumes that I notice, lol - it's
often only Herfried's telling off that alerts me to the fact!

I think it's bad form to post to multiple groups and <not> put them all
together. When I reply to a query that is in, say, languages.csharp as well as
languages.vb, I can see my answer come up there too. This will benefit the C#
people as well as the VBers. If I see the same post in another group but <not>
cross-posted, I find it annoying if I've answered it here and some else has
answered it there - either one of us has wasted their time, or there's a
partial answer in two different places.

I recently had an enquiry to make myself. Out of politeness I posted to a
single group. I was informed that that wasn't quite the right group for my
question and redirected. The next day I posted to another group . No-one
responded. The next day I tried a third and still no-one responded. Had I
cross-posted, I would have known a bit sooner that no-one was going to answer.
To hell with etiquette! Next time I'm posting to any group that may or may
not be even remotely relevant!! *

|| .. googled and altavista'd since the beginning of time.

You've been places!! You must have a few good stories to tell around the
campfire.

Regards,
Fergus

* Not really ;-) but I <will> cross-post to a choice few (assuming I know how
to make a good choice).

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Hello,

I hear people say not to multipost, does these mean not to
ask the same question in another group or to submit the
question to all the groups via the same submission, with
multiple newsgroups in the "send to" box?

Multiposts are really "bad" because if a question is posted to ng A and B
and I reply to the question in ng B, people who read only ng A won't see the
answer and post an answer too. X-posts are tolerated if they are posted to
groups _related to the topic of the question_ only.

Tips for Using the MSDN Web-Based Newsgroup Client
http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/managed/default.asp?url=/newsgroups/managed/NodePages/tips.asp

 

[One Handed Man [ OHM ]]

I think it is valid to cross post when you are not sure which group to put
it in , but where the groups are closely related.

I wanted the answer to an access question the other day, but couldnt decide
which one, so I cross posted to four groups and got an answer in about three
minutes.

It worked for me.

Regards OHM

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Hello,

I think it is valid to cross post when you are not sure which
group to put it in , but where the groups are closely related.

I wanted the answer to an access question the other day,
but couldnt decide which one, so I cross posted to four
groups and got an answer in about three minutes.

That's ok.

 

[Charles Law]

Hi Herfried

I'm confused. Is cross-posting the act of sending the same question multiple
times, once to each of several groups, as distinct from sending the question
once only but to several groups?

In the latter case, doesn't an answer to the post in one group appear in the
other groups? If that were the case, I would have thought that this would
have been of benefit to all, poster and responders; I think as Fergus
suggested.

Charles

 

[Cor]

Hi,
I don't know, maybe posting is not the problem, but answering.
When you see the tread about the FREE SQL, it is loaded with answers that
are sure from other newsgroups and they don't intrest me at all.
You maybe want to answer, "you don't have to read them", can be, but there
where answers from NAK too in, and mostly I read those and too the answers
on the messages from Nick.
I don't have an answer for the problem, but I don't like it.
When I see a cross post, I try only to answer to the newsgroup I am in.
Cor

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Hello,

When you see the tread about the FREE SQL,

Seemed to be a troll-post.

 

[Fergus Cooney]

Hi Herfried,

What <is> a 'troll' specifically ?

Regards,
Fergus

 

[Cor]

Hi Herfried,
I think that it is not important that it is a troll post.
I don't know what to do with the subject, so lets write about it.

When there is to much trawling we can kick him back to Sylvania where I
heard they lives.

Cor

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Hello,

What <is> a 'troll' specifically ?

A "troll" is someone who posts something that causes a big OT discussion.

 

[Fergus Cooney]

Hi Herfried,

I guess it's a traditional word - any idea where it came from ? For me the
image of Trolls is that they bash things - which doesn't seem to fit somehow.

Regards,
Fergus

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Hello,

I guess it's a traditional word - any idea where it came from ?
For me the image of Trolls is that they bash things - which
doesn't seem to fit somehow.

Sorry, I do not have more information why those people are called trolls.
Maybe a Google Search helps. In German, a "Troll" is somebody who behaves
in a foreign, stupid way.

 

[Herfried K. Wagner [MVP]]

Hello,

When there is to much trawling we can kick him back to
Sylvania where I heard they lives.

Ah, I didn't know that...

 

[Charles Law]

Hi All

My dictionary has the following definition:

verb Computing, informal: send (an e-mail message or posting on the
Internet) intended to provoke a response from he reader by containing
errors.

Also a noun.

I had assumed it was from the noun: a mythical, cave-dwelling being depicted
in folklore as either a giant or a dwarf, typically having a very ugly
appearance; from the Old Norse and Swedish troll, Danish trold. They are
generally thought to be very grumpy and disaffected, which often
characterises troll postings.

Charles

 

[Fergus Cooney]

Thanks Charles,

Regards,
Fergus

 

[Fergus Cooney]

Thanks anyway, Herfried, I was just being too tired to search. ;-)

Regards,
Fergus

 

[William Ryan]

Troll from H3LL. I had a few brews in me that night so I wasted time
posting back...should have just ignored it but I love the whole notion of
Troll Posts. And they never seem to know what they are talking about.

 

[Cor]

Hi Herfried,
Mis understood about troll, I thought you give me an attention that this was
too a troll post.
Happenly William showed that to me.
Cor

 

[One Handed Man [ OHM ]]

Now I know what a troll is, I can sleep soundly in my bed at night. I used
to think that trolls hide in my wardrobe or under my bed. Now I know they
live in thousands of people houses and post OT threads when the computer
owners are asleep in bed.

;-D