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From: domo@tsa.co.uk (Dominic Dunlop)
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin,news.software.b
Subject: Netiquette: cross-postings including moderated groups?
Summary: Who makes postings to unmoderated groups, and when?
Message-ID: <1990Jul19.100442.27174@tsa.co.uk>
Date: 19 Jul 90 10:04:42 GMT
Reply-To: domo@tsa.co.uk (Dominic Dunlop)
Organization: The Standard Answer Ltd.
Lines: 42

Some questions for you to ponder.  I recently followed up a posting I
saw in comp.lang.perl.  As the poster had raised a question related to
standards, I put comp.std.unix as the first group in the Newsgroups
header, and as the Followup-To group.  I also named comp.lang.perl and
comp.sys.apollo on the Newsgroups line.

Seeing that comp.std.unix is moderated, relaynews (patchdate
16-Apr-1990) correctly mailed the posting to the moderator.  It did not
cross-post to the unmoderated groups.  The moderator duly made the
posting to comp.std.unix but did not cross-post: the additional
newsgroups and Followup-To did not appear in the header of the
published article.  I had to simulate cross-posting on seeing my piece
published in the moderated group by reposting to the unmoderated
groups.  As a result, some readers will be annoyed by seeing the
posting twice, references won't tie up on any further comments, and my
note in the posting about observing the Followup-To line in the header
will make no sense to readers of the moderated group.

So:

1.  Should the ``news agent'' (relaynews, in my case) on the originating
    system perform cross-postings immediately on receipt of an article
    directed to several groups, one of which is moderated (in which case
    followups may appear before it has even been published by the
    moderator)?

2.  Should the moderator (or, rather, the moderator's news agent) perform
    any cross-posting specified in postings received (assuming that the
    originator's news agent has passed on sufficient header lines -- I'm
    afraid I have not checked to see whether it does)?

3.  Should posters refrain from mixing moderated and unmoderated groups
    when making postings?

If there's a FM which I should have R'd to clear up this point, I'm not
aware of it.  Pointers welcome.

(Just in case it's the least relevant, my system is an Apple Mac running
A/UX 1.1, my mail agent is sendmail 5.59, and mail transport is provided by
uux.)
-- 
Dominic Dunlop