Before you post a large article
[Index as: Usenet post ; large articles ; Usenet binaries ; Usenet etiquette]
Usenet is designed to share messages and information that many others intend to read and use. If you are posting something large, you should remember:
- Many people choose to "skip over" large articles, and not read them. If you want your views to be known, they keep it short (Less than 100 lines)
- Be very sure there really is a general interest in what you are posting. Large articles take up space and transfer time, multiplied thousands of times over. Consider that e-mail could be better if only a few known people are interested.
- There are better ways to "publish" documents now. Usenet articles don't exist very long before they expire.
Publish your large documents and graphics on the WWW or on an FTP site, and just post a reference in the news group. This way, only those that want it can view it. This saves a lot of "bandwidth" because your article does not have to be sent to every machine in the world that gets the newsgroup, to be read by just a small minority of the people.
Graphics, sounds, binaries
Because of the increased size of messages which contain binary data, there are specific Usenet groups which should be used to post and read them. These are generally newsgroups organized under "alt.binaries."
It is considered very bad etiquette to place binary content in other groups. The Usenet community has developed some conventions in handling large messages. Binary posts in other news groups create trouble in many places at once. Don't do it!
Also, not everyone is using a news reader which can decode binaries. If you say it in pictures, they will only get a large screen of unintelligible text. They will get annoyed at you.
Usenet RKT: Posting etiquette
Usenet RKT: Can't view graphics and attachments
Usenet RKT: Is Usenet safe?
Usenet RKT: Is it safe to post?
Usenet RKT: How do I create an article?
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Copyright 1997, Forrest J. Cavalier III, Mib Software, INN customization and consulting