Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!gatech!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!llyene!cobra!urban
From: urban@cobra.jpl.nasa.gov (Michael P Urban)
Subject: Please, Watch Those Crosspostings!
Message-ID: <1995May1.151412.26110@llyene.jpl.nasa.gov>
Sender: news@llyene.jpl.nasa.gov
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 15:14:12 GMT
Lines: 34


This request is a result of traffic in soc.culture.esperanto, but you
may find it generally applicable to other newsgroups.  

The newsgroup soc.culture.esperanto is intended for discussions among
Esperantists, or those learning Esperanto.  The newsgroup's FAQ
specifically states that discussions that question the basic premise
that Esperanto Is A Good Thing And A Valuable Tool are inappropriate
in a newsgroup of that type, and should not be (cross) posted there.
Except for those interested in learning the language, postings in
English about Esperanto are not really of interest to the group.

Just because a posting in sci.lang has Esperanto as its topic (even
its main topic) does not imply that it is appropriate to cross-post
from sci.lang to soc.culture.esperanto (substitute other languages for
Esperanto in that sentence).  Also take note that s.c.e.'s contents
are forwarded as e-mail to many people without access to the
newsgroup.  When they respond to your posting to the group (by sending
an email message to the list), the response will only appear in
soc.culture.esperanto, so unless you read the newsgroup yourself, you
will not see it.  

Indeed, the rule of thumb, `do not post to newsgroups you do not read
yourself' (without explicitly requesting replies by email) is a pretty
good general rule for USENET.

It is bad enough when some lackwit crossposts some thoroughly
irrelevant message to all the soc.culture.* newsgroups; please try not
to add to the mess.

	Mike Urban

	urban@cobra.jpl.nasa.gov

