JARGON
CREDIT:
This list of terminology is baised on that found at http://ASP-Lists.com/list-lingo/ with a few additions and
peversions thoughtfully salted in by Grumpy hisself.
Some of these are merely common conventions used on lists.
Archives: A web-based (usually, not always) copy of every Email that has been posted through a list; sometimes only the last N posts, or the last N DAYS, WEEKS, or MONTHS of posts.
Banned: To be excluded from a list and not allowed to rejoin or participate. To BOOT, or to BE BOOTED.
BOOT: to kick someone off of a list; banishment, banning, ejection.
CENSORSHIP: In the spirit of the Devil's Dictionary (by Ambrose Pierce), taking words out of someone's mouth. Supressing speech not meeting with the approval of a censor. A less than approved act by a list moderator.
Cross-Posting: It means to post a message to two or more lists at the same time. It's usually quite annoying; don’t do it without great need.
De-Lurk: To stop "Listening" and start posting. [See Lurk, below.]
FAQ: Stands for “Frequently Asked Questions.” These are compilations of information that are fundamental to the topics and practices of a discussion list (or other information resource). Stuff we are tired of answering YET AGAIN. When told to please RTFM, this is a good place to start, and is usually AT LEAST as lucid as the usual programmer written documentation, and is frequently MUCH MORE accessable than that rag.
Flame: Acrimonious, insulting, immature communication. (used both as a noun and verb, and sometimes as a adverb or adjective by advanced hackish speakers.) A flamer is *sometimes* also a troll, but YMMV.
FLAME ON!: inspired by the Human Torch(tm) from Marvel Comics(R) The Fantastic Four(R), a polite(?) warning that a flame session will now ensue. Used jokingly rather like a html tag. It is notedthat when people start to flame IN EARNEST, they do not use such a tag, they are reacting in impulse and passion.
FOOTER: Several lines of text at the bottom of each post that are appended automatically by the list server. Commercical services include advertisements in these sometimes (hint). Most lists will include unsubscribe information in them, a recommended practice. You might also rarely find a 'fortune cookie' in them, although this is not standard and is VERY uncommon- except on a TinyList powered service, where anything is possible...
FORTUNE COOKIE: a randomly or sequentially selected pithy thought drawn from a stockpile of such, and displayed on a web page or in a letter, more commonly the former. Some flavors of unix display these at logon to a shell account.
IMHO: In My Humble Opinion.
List-Charter: The purpose of the list. You can find the ASP-List's list-charter here. This is sometimes included in the WELCOME message many lists send when you successfully subscribe to a list.
List-Manager: The LIVING PERSON responsible for daily list management duties, presumably human, whereas a Mail List Manager (MLM) is USUALLY a robot such as minorfish, majordomo, mailman, Listar, etc. THE POSTMASTER is the person ultimately responsible for all email activity in a domain, a fact budding postmasters do well to remember.
List-Moderator: The person responsible for moderating the list, and keeping it on topic. Only a moderated list has a moderator.
List-Owner: The person or persons who own the list. Sometimes this is the list moderator, but not always.
Lurk: To "Listen" (read posts without replying) for a period before you actively participate in a discussion list. Some people NEVER post. They are also on occasion referred to as 'ghosts', although this term is uncommon.
List-Server: The software that runs an email discussion list, or a server computer which services a given email list. TinyList is a list server program. It is also referred to as a MLM.
LMAO: Laughing My Ass Off.
LOL: Laugning Out Loud.
MLM: Mail List Manager, a program which manages 1+ mail lists. Majordomo, minorfish, mailman, and other programs are MLM's.
Newbie: Neophyte. What you are until you have a clue- actually, SEVERAL clues. WE ALL START OUT as newbies, and payforward asks us to help them and forbear them gladly.
OMG: Oh My God(dess).
On-Topic: Means to keep your post on the same topic as the lists charter. Of course, some lists ar more tightly focused in founding than others are. Make sure you are familiar with a list's purpose before you join one.
PAYFORWARD:The informal debt to return the many favors extended to you by older and wiser souls when you were looking for a clue, now that you have one. Once also called PATRONAGE, but that word has fallen into disfavor, aquiring modern undertones of conceit or contempt.
Post: To send an Email to the list.
ROTL:Rolling on The Floor.
RTFM:Read The Fucking Manual. Sorry if it offends, this is for education only.
SHELL ACCOUNT: In THE ELDER DAYS,the way to log into a computer, now only practiced by cultist sorcerers of such eldrich lore as UN*X, Linux, or FreeBSD. THIS SITE lives inside Critter, and Grumpy logs in with a shell account through a secure version of telnet from home 12 miles away.
SHOUTING: When you Email in ALL CAPS, that is considered YELLING! and is considered impolite to do except breifly for special emphasis.
SPAM: An unsolicited commercial message to the list. A no-no. SPAM is known to result is an amazing assortment of responses if kept up, NONE of which is commerce with the spammer, who aquires a bad reputation by it.
Subscription Address: The Email address you write to, in order to join or leave a list, in a list managed with an address for each command. TinyList receives all commands at one single address, and is (generally) smart enough to puzzle out what the heck you want it to do. It also provides a web management option.
TROLL: a person who stirs things up, usually simply to enjoy the ensuing spectacle, flames, and bad tempers, who is frequently an affectionado of such; usually merely an abberant mind, a minority can be trouble looking for a landing pad. As a verb, TROLLNG.
UNVOICED: to be banned, or placed on a no submit basis while letting you read what the list has to say. IN THEORY useful for supressing trolls, in practice, often used to supress speech someone does not like.
WELCOME MESAGE: The initial Email you receive when you join a list. It includes the lists purpose, policies, how to get on and off the list, how to post, the List charter, how to bribe the postmaster, the URL for the list archive or website, and who the list owner is, and random other data they felt you needed to know for some mysterious reason. Well worth saving if written well. TinyList does not offer a welcome message YET, but keep watching...
URL: Stands for “Uniform Resource Locator”: an Internet address.
YMMV: 'Your Milage May Vary'.
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This file last modified Sunday January 13 2002 02 37 AM
ODD#1.12.02/kdb/jargon.shtml