Welcome to the Comp.Sys.Acorn newsgroups.

Last modified on the 19th of August 2006

• The contact email address for submission to this FAQ has changed.

This is a weekly introductory posting intended to aid newcomers to the newsgroups in finding the right place to post, where the various FAQs lurk and general conventions observed in the groups. For reader convenience this document can be found on the WWW, in a hypertext format, at :-

http://www.khantazi.org/Archives/Welcome.html

The Comp.Sys.Acorn newsgroups are dedicated to the discussion of all matters Acorn. Before launching into the groups it is worthwhile spending a moment or two identifying which newsgroup to post to, whether or not your question has been answered already in one of the FAQ lists and whether or not your post conforms to the general guidelines that constitute netiquette. Failure to check on the appropriateness of your post generally results in you being reminded, frequently politely, of your mistake - both publicly and privately.

Newsgroups

Here are the charters for each Acorn group, as defined when the group was voted for and created. (These copies of the charters have been mildly edited to ensure relevance.) The charters roughly define what constitutes appropriate topics for discussion in the group. If none of the groups quite fit, then it is possible your message is best suited to the misc group.

comp.binaries.acorn

Distribution of binaries for Acorn machines.

This is a moderated newsgroup, posts should be sent to the moderator at cba@bridge.wn.planet.gen.nz and not posted directly to the newsgroup. (Well configured news software will do this automatically for you.)

comp.sys.acorn.advocacy

Here you can hold long debates why the ARM610 is better than the 586, why Translator's user interface is so very bad (or good!), or why Acorn should lower their prices. If you hold your wars here, the people who want to actually *do* things can get on with their work in the other Acorn groups.

comp.sys.acorn.announce

This will be a low-noise group in which announcements about (products for) Acorn computers or the ARM can be made, as well as additions to public archives, FAQ lists, virus alerts etc.

This is a moderated newsgroup, posts should be sent to the moderators at csaa@owlart.net and not posted directly to the newsgroup. (Well configured news software will do this redirection for you automatically.)

comp.sys.acorn.apps

For discussions of software packages and applications on Acorn machines from a *user* viewpoint. There should be no programming discussions in this group.

comp.sys.acorn.extra-cpu

Comp.sys.acorn.extra-cpu is open to discussion on all aspects of processor cards for the Acorn range of computers. The scope of discussion includes setting up problems, compatibility issues, hardware matters, multiprocessing operating systems (e.g. TAOS) and anything else which relates to these cards. The scope of discussion specifically excludes matters which *solely* relate to the processor in question, which should be discussed in the appropriate group.

comp.sys.acorn.games

comp.sys.acorn.games serves as a forum for the discussion of games on Acorn machines. Topics that may be discussed include:

• Announcements of new games releases
• Original game reviews
• Magazine game review summaries
• Discussion of general aspects of Acorn games
• Hints and cheats for games

comp.sys.acorn.hardware

For discussions of hardware on Acorn machines from both technical and user viewpoints.

comp.sys.acorn.misc

For discussions which do not fit into any of the other categories. Please try to put your post in the correct group, before you resort to posting here.

comp.sys.acorn.networking

For discussions of networking on Acorn machines, this includes modems, tcp/ip software, WWW browsers, ethernet cards and other comms hardware and software.

comp.sys.acorn.programmer

For discussions of Acorn related programming matters. This includes Acorn specific C, BASIC, Assembler (6502 or ARM.) Generic ARM code should be discussed in comp.sys.arm.

FAQ Lists

Various FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) Lists abound for the Acorn world. Their aim is to answer commonly asked questions before they get asked in the newsgroup. Hopefully this will reduce both the redundant traffic and the annoyance factor for long time readers, as well as helping the newcomer to the group.

• Acorn FTP and mail-server archives
  Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.announce, comp.sys.acorn.networking, comp.sys.acorn.misc.
  

  Comprehensive list of Acorn related FTP and mail server sites with a brief description for each site on its type of content.
  
  

• Comp.{Binaries,Sources}.Acorn FAQ
  Newsgroups: comp.binaries.acorn, comp.sources.acorn, comp.sys.acorn.announce
  

  Details on policy regarding the moderation of comp.binaries.acorn and comp.sources.acorn as well as submission details.
  
  

• Comp.Sys.Acorn FAQ List
  Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.announce, comp.sys.acorn.misc.
  WWW: http://www.vigay.com/csafaq/index.html
  

  A general FAQ that covers the ground that more specific FAQs don't, as befitting its home newsgroup of comp.sys.acorn.misc. General information about Acorn machines (hardware, OS, software etc...) as well as an email list of Acorn companies on the net and a smattering of Acorn related web pages.
  
  

• Comp.Sys.Acorn.Announce Charter
  Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.announce.
  WWW: http://www.owlart.net/csaa/
  

  Detailed charter document on what is, and is not, acceptable for submission to be posted on the newsgroup comp.sys.acorn.announce.
  
  

• comp.sys.acorn.games FAQ
  Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.announce, comp.sys.acorn.games.
  

  Accumulated answers about Acorn games in development, tips for coding games and general advice on games for Acorn machines.
  
  

• comp.sys.acorn.networking Frequently Asked Questions
  Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.networking.
  WWW: http://www.mjpye.org.uk/networking/?p=csan
  

  Accumulated answers and wisdom on the networking of Acorn computers. Included is information on setting up TCP/IP and Ethernet networks, AUN and the companies involved in the Acorn networking scene.

Netiquette

As with any social group there is a basic standard of behaviour expected of group members. This is primarily intended to facilitate easy, relaxed and fruitful discussion amongst members with a minimum of conflict and strife. If entirely new to Usenet, then subscribing to news.announce.newusers and reading the FAQs there is an extremely good idea. However general advice includes :-

• Before posting consult the relevant FAQs to see if your question is answered there. Asking questions already in the FAQ tends to irritate the FAQ maintainer at the very least and often also annoys long term readers of the group who have probably seen and answered your question several times before.
• If none of the FAQs answer your question then it is frequently worthwhile consulting a news archive service like DejaNews and searching for the topic of interest.
• Money making schemes, chain letters and similarly intrusive off-topic posts are not welcome.
• Advertising a commercial service or product is not welcome anywhere except the comp.sys.acorn.announce group, submit your advertising to the moderators of that group. But referring a poster on to a commercial product or service that solves their problem is generally okay.
• If new to the groups read them for a week or two first, to get a feel for the topics and conventions the group members talk about and use.
• Don't cross-post unless you really need to. It breaches the separation of topics that the newsgroup hierarchy provides.
• If you must cross-post, or are following up to a cross-posted article, check the groups being cross-posted to. Don't be afraid to remove groups that are not relevant to the contents of your post.
• When cross-posting then do not post multiple identical articles to each different newsgroup. Use the Newsgroups header and post the article just once, that way readers will only have to download the article once and often only read it once.
• Don't post binaries or source files, submit them to the moderator of comp.{binaries,sources}.acorn instead. People frequently pay to download news and binaries can get expensive quickly, not to mention annoying, when unwanted.
• If you feel a discussion has now changed topic sufficiently to now be best suited to another group, consider using the Followup-To: header to redirect the discussion to that group. When doing that it is polite to say as much in the post itself.
• When posting a private advertisement place at the start of the subject line either 'WTD:', for a wanted to buy advert, or 'FS:', for a for sale advert. That way people who wish to ignore adverts can easily filter them out.
• When posting please trim your reply and keep line lengths to less than 80 characters. Not everyone has high resolution displays, fast connections or the latest software to read your postings. Try to be as concise and brief as possible.
• Replying is generally best done by putting your answer directly below the segment you are replying to. That way people can read the previous posters comments and see what you are replying to without having to backtrack and read older postings. If you aren't directly replying to it then trim it.

Other than that just being generally polite is a good rule of thumb. That and enjoy yourself, the newsgroups are here for you to enjoy just as much as anyone else.