The Informal Rules:
1 - Be polite
2 - Be on topic
The Formal Rules
*****RULES*****
1) This conference is dedicated to discussing personal computer
systems software such as Operating Systems and Graphical User
interfaces.  Some samples of suitable topics for discussion are,
but are not limited to:
Operating system marketing     => Microsoft vs. IBM
Feature comparisons            => Cooperative multitasking
vs preemptive multitasking
Benchmarking of systems        => Speed of DOS or Win16 apps on
Windows, Win-OS/2, and NT
Hardware issues involving      => Multiprocessor cache coherency
Operating Systems
File systems                   => FAT vs. HPFS for space allocation
Specific products              => DOS, Windows, OS/2, DESQview, NT,
Unix, Mach, AmigaDOS, MacOS,
NeXTStep, etc.
Operating systems that don't run on personal computers, such as VMS,
OS/MVS, Unicos, etc., may be discussed for purposes of comparison,
but if you are interested in in-depth discussions of minicomputer,
mainframe, and supercomputer operating systems then it would probably
be best to find a different conference, even though you won't be
ostracized for such discussion in OSDEBATE.
1a) Off topic messages are NOT permitted.  This does NOT include
a message initializing the conference, which is automatically
generated by some BBS's.  Those messages are acceptible, even
if done  manually,  as long as they are NOT excessive, nor
annoying.
2) Whether or not ANY message is  annoying, or off topic, or
excessive, is solely up to the judgement of the Moderators.
3) A THREE STRIKES system is in effect  in this  echo, for those
who do NOT stay on topic, or violate any other rule. An offender
will be given two warnings and then will be asked to leave, as
follows:
3a) A warning via this echo.
3b) A warning via Netmail and possibly Echomail, that further
offenses will lead to temporary, or permanent banishment
from this echo.
3c) A netmail telling you that you ARE banned from the echo and
for how long (possibly permanently, if the Moderator(s) feel
that the offense calls for it).
4) If an offense by a poster in this echo is serious enough, Rule 3
may be skipped by the Moderator(s) and the offender will be
notified by Netmail and possibly Echomail, that he/she is banned
from the echo and for how long (possibly permanently or indefinitely).
Also, a rude or offensive Netmail, or Echomail response to a "warning"
Netmail, can be used to issue another warning.
5) If the offender disregards the Moderators request to stay out of
the echo, the Moderator will have the feed to that Node (or Net,
or Region, if necessary) cut, for as long as is deemed necessary.
Remember, your actions may effect many others, by your disregard
of the Moderators' request.  The Moderator may elect to simply
have the feed to that Node, Net, or Region cut, without warning,
indefinitely, or permanently.
6) If you wish to discuss an issue further with a Moderator, please
take it to netmail.  You may netmail either Moderator, as one
Moderator will netmail the other to notify him of the action(s)
taken.  Netmail can be routed and therefore will be of no cost to
you, unless you wish to send it Crash to one of the Moderators.
6a) If you wish to discuss an off-topic issue with another user,
please do so via Netmail.
6b) If you do not have Netmail access on the system that you post
from, then check with your SysOp, to see if he will send the
message for you, via Netmail.  If not, then you will have to
seek out a system that will allow you Netmail access.
7) All users of this echo will be polite and courteous to one another,
at all times.  Foul language is NOT permitted and personal attacks
are NOT permitted.  Remember, this is about mail, NOT personalities.
8) If you have a problem with another user, contact one of the
Moderators via Netmail.  We will monitor the situation and take
the appropriate actions, if the situation calls for it.  You will
be notified via netmail of our response to the situation. In
other words, let the Moderators do the moderating.  You may not
SEE the Moderator working, but rest assured that we are.  Some of
our communications with a user may be via netmail and therefore,
invisible to YOU.
8a) If you initiate an attack on another user, then you are
automatically wrong, because whether your insults are valid
or not, the user will feel the need to respond and thus a
flame-war gets started.
9) The Moderators reserve the right to add and post any additional
rule(s), as they become necessary, or are deemed to be for the
good of the echo, by the Moderators, at any time, without notice,
even if to apply it/them to a current situation.
10) ANSI is NOT permitted in this echo.
11) Handles are NOT permitted in this echo, except by the Moderators,
who may post under the handle of "Moderator",  so that there will
be no question by users of the echo who do NOT yet know who the
Moderators are.
12) Excessive quoting is NOT permitted in this echo.  Only quote the
relevant portion of the message and only enough to maintain the
thought of the thread.  Do NOT quote Signatures, Tear Lines, nor
Origin Lines, unless to show an error, as there is no need for
them to be quoted in a message, in order to maintain the thought
of the thread.  Also, please change the subject line of a message,
should the actual subject of the discussion change.  Many folks
scan messages by subject title and they may miss important
information that you have posted, that would be beneficial to
them, due to the "Subject Line" appearing to be old, or not
related to what they are looking to discuss.
13) If there is a suggestion  that you have, that you feel will be
of benefit to the echo, please notify one of the Moderators via
Netmail and we will consider your suggestion.  If your suggestion
is deemed to be of benefit to the echo by the Moderators, we will
implement the change and post a message to this effect, including
the name of the person who made the suggestion, unless you request
anonymity.
14) While signature lines are fine, they should not be excessive.
15) Artwork is NOT permitted, unless part of a signature line and
then it must be within the guidelines of Rules 10 and 14.
16) Advertising is NOT allowed in this echo.  This includes
the advertising of other echos.  Do NOT advertise, nor
solicit sales in this echo.  Do NOT request products from
users of this echo.  Do not respond to advertisements in
this echo.
17) Re-posting news stories, magazine articles, etc., is allowed
only as far as "fair use" legalities permit.  You can quote
portions of articles for the purpose of making your point, but
quoting whole articles verbatim is not allowed as it is a
copyright violation.  (Information that is not copyrighted, or
which is explicitly allowed to be distributed -- such as press
releases -- can be posted in their entirety, but if only part
of it makes your point, then only quote that portion).
18) ENGLISH is the Official language of this echo.
19) If a poster makes a claim, it is up to THAT person to back up
said claim, if they are "called" on it.  It will NOT be up to
the responder to prove that you are incorrect, although they
may feel free to do so.
19a) Many times in this echo, folks have made claims and have
refused to back them up, claiming that it is up to the
person who responded, to prove that they are wrong.  In
the interests of preventing future long-winded, futile
and non-sensical arguments over who should prove what,
that evolve into dozens of posts that resolve nothing,
this practice will no longer be acceptible.
20) Please be sure to say exactly what you mean.  We don't wish to
see debates over what was meant by a word, as has happened in
the past.  Your words can and should be taken at face value,
unless otherwise indicated in the ORIGINAL post.  Long debates
over what is meant by a given word, will be considered to be
OFF-TOPIC.  It is up to the person posting the ORIGINAL message,
to be clear about what it is that they're trying to say.  This
will help to avoid futile, long-winded arguments, that resolve
nothing and merely waste bandwith.
21) The Moderator reserves the right to end a thread, when it has
become NON-productive and declare a winner, if any.
Moderators:
To contact the moderator, send EMAIL to the following:
Dale Ross (1:379/45.0) dale@WiNBBS.DynIP.com
Quentin Stephens qts@donor2.demon.co.uk