aloha, y'all!

recently, a dispute has arisen between subscribers over the nature and
function of this list...  while i, as listowner, encourage the free
exchange of ideas, it is also my responsibility to remind all of you that
extensive quoting of past posts is not only unecessary, but violates the
spirit, if not the letter, of one of VICUG-L's ground rules...

here's what the welcome message has to say on the topic:

4.  QUOTING
Please avoid overquoting previous posts--often, a brief summation of a
previous post or the thread to which you are contributing is sufficient.
Those who object to another listmember's overquoting should send their
complaints directly to the poster, and Cc them to the listowner
([log in to unmask])  Complaints about and criticism of
other listmembers and/or the organizations to which they belong should be
handled off-list via private email.
--- end of quote

and, so, i beseech you--when responding to posts, please ask yourselves a
few simple questions:

1.  am i guilty of the behavior i am condemning?
2.  can i make my point effectively _without_ quoting?
3.  do i have my mailer set to automatically include the message in my
    reply?  (and if so, please either disable it, or set it to prompt you
    before inserting the text of the message to which you are replying in
    the body of your reply)
4.  should i respond to the poster publically or privately?

it is also a wise policy to read/listen to your post in its entirety
_before_ sending it to the list...  listen and reflect...  try to
listen to your post in an objective matter...  if, for instance, you find
yourself skipping large portions of your post in order to get to the
juicy parts, then the portion you skipped should probably be cut...
if you find your attention wandering while you listen to the quoted
materials included in your post, cut them...  in a word, try to listen to
your post as if it were written by someone else--if you find any part of
it unlistenable or irrelavant, chances are others will, too...

remember--the strongest arguments are often the briefest...  long-windedness
does not a persuasive argument make (and who should know that truth better
than i, your long-winded listowner?!?)

all i ask of you as individuals is that you exercise the same judgement
and restraint in responding to other listmembers that you would have them
extend to you...

the golden rule of list membership is: think before you post...
the vast majority of you do, and for that, i thank you...

gregory.
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