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Path: utzoo!sq!msb
From: msb@sq.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.misc
Subject: Report Cancels?
Message-ID: <1987Oct14.022744.22622@sq.uucp>
Date: Wed, 14-Oct-87 02:27:44 EDT
Article-I.D.: sq.1987Oct14.022744.22622
Posted: Wed Oct 14 02:27:44 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Oct-87 19:41:48 EDT
Reply-To: msb@sq.UUCP (Mark Brader)
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto
Lines: 28
Checksum: 24001

I just posted and quickly Canceled an article, because as I hit s to send,
I realized I needed to add a paragraph.  It occurs to me that articles are
canceled for many different reasons.  I think it would be nice if the
C command in rn, and the corresponding commands in other news interfaces,
would ask for a one-line comment explaining why the article was canceled.
Thus:
	Because I posted to the wrong group
	Because I want to retract what I said
	Because I realized I was asking for something illegal
	Because my boss is censoring me
	To fix some typos

This would replace the present one-liner that says something like "canceled
from rn".

Why?  Well, because of my next idea.

The cancel message should appear as a message in the newsgroup as well as,
or even instead of, appearing in the "control" newsgroup, which almost
nobody reads.  Then, when a canceled message evokes followups, the readers
of the followups will be able to figure out what happened, and maybe some
flame wars will die down faster.

Is this a good idea?

Mark Brader			"That's what progress is for.  Progress
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto		 is for creating new forms of aggravation."
utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com				-- Keith Jackson