01 – Instructions

December 5, 2009 – 10:16 pm

Please note… This information no longer exists at the referenced locations.  This is only a copy of what was available in 2003.

Basic Linux Training™

Welcome message – blt-newuser@basiclinux.net

Anita Lewis

Take a moment to review this message and file it away for future reference. If you don’t have one already, an appropriate place would be a folder named ‘welcome’ for all the lists you subscribe to, or with the folder for messages from the mailing list filed in another folder named ‘blt-newuser’; Linux mailers will automatically sort your messages based on the X-sender line in the header and place them in the corresponding folder if you prefer.

LIST INFORMATION

Subscribe

You should already be subscribed by now, but if not:

To subscribe to the mailing list go to:

http://basiclinux.net/mailman/listinfo/blt-newuser_basiclinux.net

You will be sent a confirmation request e-mail from the list server. Read it and follow the instructions.

Once your confirmation is received, your request will be held for approval by the list administrator until the next term. You will not hear anything further until the beginning of the next term.

Unsubscribe

DO NOT SEND UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS TO THE MAILING LIST!

The easiest way to sign off the mailing list is to send a command to the list server. The links are in the headers of every message from the list – so there is no excuse for sending ‘unsubscribe’ messages to the list. Other subscribers to the list don’t want to read about your comings or goings, and they aren’t able to help you. They just get annoyed.

To unsubscribe from the mailing list click on this link or send a message to

        blt-newuser-request@basiclinux.net

with the word unsubscribe in the Subject: line.

Blt-support List

Blt-newuser is an email list where you can ask questions about the topics discussed in the current or previous lessons. If you want to discuss other Linux-related topics, you will need to subscribe to our virtual LUG (Linux Users’ Group) list, Blt-support@basiclinux.net. You can subscribe at http://basiclinux.net/mailman/listinfo/blt-support_basiclinux.net, or you can send an email to

        blt-support-request@basiclinux.net

with the word subscribe in the Subject: line. A confirmation request e-mail will be sent to you just as it was for the blt-newuser list subscription.

Email Preferences

You can edit your list preferences to

  • put the list on ‘No E-mail’ so that you can read and receive your messages online. This is good for uncluttering your Inbox for holding your list message delivery while you’re on vacation. Note that if you use this feature,you cannot post from the archives which is where you will be reading your mail.
  • choose whether to receiveindividual messages or digests from the list.

To edit email preferences, go to:

http://blt.basiclinux.net/mailman/listinfo/blt-newuser_basiclinux.net

This link is at the bottom of every message from the list. Put your email address in the blank at the bottom of that web page and go to the next page. You will see the various choices there. The password you chose when you registered will be required to make any changes. If you have forgotten your password, there is a place to choose to have it sent to you by e-mail. You can also unsubscribe from the list on this page.

Note: There is no need to select the option to have your email address hidden because only the three list owners can view the list of subscribers. You may choose to do so anyway, but be aware that certain routine maintenance actions, such as replacing our servers, could cause hidden subscribers to be removed from the list. There isn’t any notification, and you may need to re-subscribe to the list.

Archives

The messages are kept in archives grouped by month. You may want to look at the older messages. These archives are not searchable. You’ll get a link to the list information page at the bottom of e-mails from the list.

http://blt.basiclinux.net/mailman/listinfo/blt-newuser_basiclinux.net

The first link on that page is to the archives.

In addition we have searchable archives, but they do not include the very latest postings. These archives are updated at the end of each month, or more frequently if we can get to it. You can find them at

http://blt.basiclinux.net/lessons/mailarchive.

Use the same login you use for the lessons.

Changing Email Address

To change your email address go to the above mentioned page for changing list preferences. Put your email address in at the bottom to access your preference page. There is a place where you put your new email address in twice. A confirmation request will be sent to your new address.

The Rules

This is the discussion list for the Basic Linux Training course.

If you choose to post, it must be on the topics covered in the lessons for that current week or in lessons from previous weeks. If they are not, they will be rejected. Include the name of the lesson in your post. If you want to post about anything else, it should go to blt-support@basiclinux.net list. See Blt-support List above for subscription details.

Otherwise, the standard drill applies:

  • no Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. If you send an email from one of these clients, it will drop into a black hole. You won’t get notified; it just gets deleted.
  • no attitude – if you’re into religious wars, flame-fests, and trolling, go ANYWHERE else!
  • no executables – snippets of source code and scripts are fine
  • no HTML – see how to turn off HTML in your e-mail client
  • no porn
  • no auto-responders
  • no reply requests
  • do not send “test,” “thank you,” “me too,” “atta boy/girl” and other messages that do not contain actual relevant information to the list. Send your thanks and so on directly to the person. Their e-mail address is included in their post.
  • send links, not the whole document or web page to the list. (but quote the first paragraph or two if you’d like) Some of the articles are copyrighted and others are simply too long.
  • send only relevant small attachments (preferably “in-line” and “quoted printable”)
  • trim replies, take out the excess – the footer and all previous replies except the one to which you are responding. Do NOT include the last 2 or 3 replies – everybody has read it two or three times, and needless repetition doesn’t increase the validity of your arguments.  ;-)

Many list owner are now proactively banning Outlook and Outlook Express because of the inherent security risk they pose to the rest of us. That *should* tell you how serious the threat of viruses has become and the widespread skepticism that the company can/will do anything about it.

Several of the latest viruses and worms exploit your address book and will spread to everyone in it before you realize you are infected. Others spoof those addresses to send spam. It is pandemic and intolerable, so Outlook and Outlook Express have been banned because they are instrumental in the spread of viruses on Internet.

The list will be moderated in order to filter out the posts of those who fail to follow the rules.

Posting a Message

To post a message, send it to:

         blt-newuser@basiclinux.net

Reporting a Problem

Please write to blt-newuser-admin@basiclinux.net if you receive duplicate messages or have any other trouble with the list, rather than cluttering the list with these types of problems. This address will send your message to both Sam and Anita. Write to the same address if you have problems accessing the restricted directories or the web pages, find broken links, or have something you think could/should be included. Again, do not send this type of message to the list.

Weekly IRC (Internet Relay Chat) Sessions

See http://blt.basiclinux.net/irc.html

Thanks! Now enjoy the list and the course!

List Owners of blt-newuser@basiclinux.net:

Anita Lewis: anita@basiclinux.net
Sam Morgan: sam@basiclinux.net

Copyright © 1997-2001 Henry White. Copyright © 2001-2003 Anita Lewis. All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction or redistribution without prior written consent is strictly prohibited. Address comments and inquiries to info@basiclinux.net

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