BeUserTalk Information and Charter

Thank you for participating in Be's BeUserTalk electronic mailing list. This message is automatically sent to all subscribers once a month. You can also view this document on the web by visiting the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/aboutbe/lists/beusertalk.html

Please take a moment to review the information in this message, especially before you post to the list for the first time, or before you send mail with a question about the list.

Table of Contents

1. The BeUserTalk discussion list
2. Sending mail to the list
3. How to unsubscribe
4. Automatic unsubscription
5. Other list commands and features
6. Web resources for more info
7. Who to contact for help

1. The BeUserTalk Discussion List

The BeUserTalk discussion list is an open discussion list covering using the BeOS and BeOS software. The list was created as a forum for discussing issues important to BeOS users, including software, helpful tips, tools, techniques, great uses of the BeOS, business issues, and the like.

BeUserTalk is loosely moderated. This means that while there are no technical restrictions on what may be posted or discussed, we ask that list members generally stay within the boundaries of issues which are specifically relevant to BeOS users, and which do not have better forums elsewhere. Those looking for a more unstructured environment are encouraged to participate in the thriving comp.sys.be.advocacy, comp.sys.be.help or comp.sys.be.misc newsgroups.

Desirable topics of discussion might include:

• What I like about the BeOS
• What I don't like about the BeOS
• What software I would like to see someone write for the BeOS
• What software for the BeOS rocks or blows
• [ANNOUNCE] MyNewSoftware 1.0
• Good Be-related web sites, or news articles
• Other topics where the instances of the string "Be" are not part of "Been there, done that" and the like.

Topics which are discouraged might include:

• General tech support questions (unless not in the Be FAQs)
• You suck
• You rule
• PowerPC vs Intel (or any hardware religion)
• Mac OS vs Windows vs Amiga vs etc. (or any software religion)
• Mine is bigger than yours
• "Me too", "I agree", ":-(", and other contentless posts
• Posts where 50% or more of the words deliberately fail a spell check

In particular, do not use the list as your source for first-line technical support for user-level problems (a user-level problem is one that you are having that does not involve BeOS code). The correct forums for technical support are, in order:

1. The Be FAQs
2. The Be Support section
3. Be Customer Support
4. BeUserTalk mailing list (but only after trying the other three)

As you can see, the goal is to create a discussion list with a reasonably high signal-to-noise ratio. There is latitude for playfulness and humor, but members of the list should keep in mind that it becomes difficult to get value out of the list if discussions wander too far from the charter of the list. In general, we simply ask that members exercise judgement when posting to the list.

If you see a truly off-topic post, please send the poster a private message (don't post to the list) suggesting that it might belong on another mailing list or news group, and CC listmaster@be.com.

Sending Mail to the List

To send mail to the list, create your message with a descriptive subject, and send the message to:

beusertalk@be.com

You can only send messages to the list if you are a subscriber. You must send your messages from the account with which you subscribed to the list.

The list server is very picky about "From:" addresses, and if your apparent address changes, due to changes on your network or mail server, you may be unable to send messages. If this happens, send mail to listmaster@be.com and request a manual address change from your old address to the new one.

How to Unsubscribe from the List

To unsubscribe from the list, send mail to listserv@be.com with the following command in the subject field of your message:

unsubscribe beusertalk

You can also use the form on the Be web site to send the correct unsubscribe message:

http://www.be.com/aboutbe/mailinglists.html

You can only unsubscribe from the list using the account with which you subscribed to the list. The list server is very picky about "From:" addresses, and if your apparent address changes, due to changes on your network or mail server, you may be unable to unsubscribe. If this happens, send mail to listmaster@be.com and request a manual unsubscription.

Automatic Unsubscription

Due to the large quantities of bounced e-mail our lists receive, the list server is very strict about eliminating e-mail addresses which have delivery problems. Three bounces in 7 days and an address will be automatically unsubscribed.

We regret any problems this might cause our subscribers, but our lists have too many subscribers and too much traffic to avoid automatic unsubscription of e-mail addresses.

If you are unsubscribed in this way, you can simply re-subscribe to any of Be's lists, following the instructions on our web site:

http://www.be.com/aboutbe/mailinglists.html

Other List Commands and Features

You can subscribe to BeUserTalk in either normal or digest mode. In normal mode, you will be sent individual messages as they are received by the list server. In digest mode, you will receive an entire day's worth of messages combined into a single "digest" message.

To change (or subscribe) to the digest version of the list, send mail to listserv@be.com with the following command in the subject field of your message:

subscribe beusertalk digest

To change (or subscribe) to the normal version of the list, send mail to listserv@be.com with the following command in the subject field of your message:

subscribe beusertalk

To receive a copy of the Be List Server Help file, send mail to listserv@be.com with the following command in the subject field of your message:

help

Or you can visit the Be web site for the same information, as well as links to other resources:

http://www.be.com/aboutbe/mailinglists.html

List Resources on the Web

The Be web server contains a wealth of information about Be's electronic mailing lists, as well as answers to many of the most frequently asked questions about Be, the BeOS, developing for the BeOS, etc. Here are references to some of the pages you might find useful.

For information regarding the Be electronic mailing lists:

http://www.be.com/aboutbe/mailinglists.html

General questions and answers about Be, the BeOS, etc.:

http://www.be.com/support/qandas/

General technical support for the BeOS:

http://www.be.com/support/assist/custsupport.html

Who to Contact for More Help

If you have problems with or other questions about this or any of Be's mailing lists, send e-mail to:

listmaster@be.com

If you are a BeOS user, and have technical questions about using the BeOS, check the Be FAQs on the Be web site:

http://www.be.com/support/qandas/

If you are a BeOS user, and have technical questions about using the BeOS not answered in the FAQs, use the BeOS Support Form at:

http://www.be.com/support/assist/custsupport.html

If you are a registered Be User, and need to change your address (physical or electronic), visit the Registered User area of the Be web site, and update your information there:

http://www.be.com/users/reguserintro.html

If you have other Registered User questions, contact Be Developer Services at:

custservice@be.com