For some people, especially those new to electronic communications via email and mailing lists, the tools of the trade are something of a mystery. For some wisdom on the use of email in general, have a look at this excellent article on the "The tyranny of email" - for information on etiquette on email lists, read on. It's impractical for those of us who are familiar with the culture surrounding mailing lists to quietly take aside those who would like to learn about the culture and give them some pointers, so instead, we hope that they will find this document of assistance. It outlines our expectations, here at Openz, for online mailing list communications. If you believe that anything in this document incorrect, unfair, or insufficient, please give us your suggestions for improving it. Many thanks to those who have already made suggestions.

The general guideline: if what you are sending is a) is larger (in kilobytes) than it needs to be, b) isn't of general interest, c) isn't civil, then it's probably in all of our best interest for you not to send it to the list.

See a more detailed set of criteria below.

If and when people do breach the etiquette of this list, I do believe it is our duty to alert them, but to do so with sensitivity which shows that we care enough to include them rather than simply rebuking them. Publically shaming someone is never a good way to influence their behaviour. I suggest the following approach:

1. point out to them that they have acted contrary to the expectations of the list - do so by back channels (back channels are direct communications rather than the list, e.g. phone, instant message, sms message, or direct person-to-person email). It is never appropriate or constructive to admonish someone via the list.
2. explain to them the rationale for your suggestion - always assume that they have the best of intentions, and make sure they know you do too.
3. never attack someone personally - it immediately closes any channels of communication that might have been open, and can make people angry/hurt, which is never a good basis for convincing someone that you have a valuable point of view...

The open source community is rich with constructive energy because most people admire generosity and the energy to include and welcome. Let us demonstrate our worthiness.

When posting to the opensource@openz.org list, please first ask yourself the following questions (and answer them honestly :oP )

1. Is what I'm writing appropriate for this list?
   
   The reason people have signed up to read this list is because they are interested in the topic(s) around which it was founded. In the case of this list, it's "open source software and the use of open standards in NZ, particularly by the NZ government". Because this is an open source list and promotes open standards, it is respectful not to refer to files which require proprietary software for access. All Microsoft Office file formats fall into this group. Sending email attachments is also dubious, please see 8 below.
   
   Commercial promotion is almost never appropriate on this list, unless it is directly topical or requested, and only if it is of general interest. It should also be made clear what bias or vested interest you might have. Anyone spamming the list will be questioned (again, back channels) and most likely blocked from posting in future. We have already made this list "subscriber-posting-only" because of spamming.
2. Does this message have to go to everyone on the list?
   
   People occasionally inadvertently do a "reply all" and end up saying personal/damaging/embarrassing things in messages not intended for mass consumption. Sadly, if you do that, it's your own fault. We reduce the risk by almost never making mailing lists reply-to: the list, but only you can control your messages: please take care to learn how to use your communications tools. And whenever possible, use "back channels" rather than the list. The next item is a special case.
3. Does this message really contain information that adds to our debate or otherwise enriches the list's readership or is this message really just commentary or an effort to be funny?
   
   If it's the latter, it's a prime candidate for "back channel" communication - e.g. person-to-person email, phone, semaphore, message in a bottle, etc. Don't get me wrong, however - the real genius of writing is conveying useful information to someone in a way that gives them cause to laugh, and to like and respect you as well - if you can be funny and convey information simultaneously, then by all means, exercise your wit.
   
   Sending a "test message" to the list with "please ignore" for a subject is still a waste of our time and bandwidth. Please don't do it.
4. Have I put enough time into making this email constructive, with well supported points and links to references whereever appropriate, or is it a simplistic, emotive, kneejerk reaction and something I'll regret sending an hour from now?
   
   If it's the latter, don't send it, as it probably isn't of much interest to the rest of us and yes, you probably will regret it.
5. Am I sending an HTML formatted email? Is it really necessary to do so?
   
   The combination of text and whitespace is often poo-poo'd by the MS Word using masses, but for many more years than wiley ole Bill (Gates) has been walking this earth it has been seen as a pretty good way of conveying information by a lot of people. Email is a pure text medium and is so widely used because of its simplicity and effectiveness. For the many people who don't use graphical email interfaces (mutt, pine, emacs, etc.), HTML email is unreadable. Don't use it.
6. Is my message as short as it can be while still conveying the point I intended?
   
   Shorter is always better (size does matter). We're all busy people. It's much easier to hold people's attention with 3 paragraphs than over 3 pages. Sending anything that's larger than it needs to be is an imposition on the other readers on the list (not to mention the list server - in this case, I am donating the bandwidth, server hardware, admin, etc. that this list requires, and it costs me real money).
   
   If what you're saying requires a comprehensive treatment, it's probably worthwhile to spend a few minutes to provide a brief summary at the start so that the 150+ or so of us subscribers don't have to spend a lot of time deciding whether what you've written really interests us.
   
   Further to that...
7. Have I removed any unnecessary "quoted text"?
   
   Often email clients allow you to quote the text of the message to which you are replying - and over the course of an animated email conversation, that quoted text can become very long. The classic is when you get a message in reply to someone's long, involved treatise which simply says "Ok." and then proceeds to quote the treatise over again. Waste of space - please trim quotes.
8. Did I attach anything to the message?
   
   It is almost never appropriate to send email to the list with files attached. Why? Usually attached files take up more space than is required to convey the information they contain - an MS Word file is typically 100 times the size of a text file containing the identical information. Sending information in that format, unless everyone needs to have a document with that precise formatting, is unnecessary. If it is necessary, a better way to distribute files, rather than attaching them to an email, is to stick them on a website or ftp server and provide downloading instructions to the list. That way readers can "opt in" rather than having to "opt out" - always preferable.
9. Did I proof read my message?
   
   Email doesn't offer the additional modes of communication of in-person communication. Body language, tone, eye contact, etc. aren't available to help you get your point across. Be precise and concise. You have no idea who is going to read your email - it's not quite the same as personal email. Poor grammar, lack of proper punctuation, bad spelling, incorrect use of simple words like "their and there and they're," etc. reflect poorly on you as the writer. Moreover, a lack of care is taken by some people to mean that you don't respect them or their time enough to proof read your work.
10. Did I write in CAPITALS?
    
    If so, in the email world you're shouting. Just keep that in mind. Text is a somewhat limited medium when it comes to being demonstrative. Use it wisely.
11. Did I include any obscure abbreviations that aren't necessarily common knowledge?
    
    iirc and wrt and rtfm are useful ways to abbreviate *when* we know that the person reading our message knows what they mean. If we don't know that, then we come off looking pretentious and exclusionary which isn't particularly useful, right?
12. Did I attempt to use sarcasm or sincerity that could be mistaken for sarcasm?
    
    These things don't always come across in text for others as they did for us when we're writing them. Despite their smarminess, I suggest the (sparing) use of "emoticons" or sideways smileys to indicate that you've said something with a smile on your face (or not, as the case might be).

Warning: a small amount of self indulgence follows

• spelling: Please please please spell these correctly: separate, definite, (in)dependent, espresso, accommodation, millennium, etc.
• words often confused with one another: too vs. to vs. two, whether vs. weather, which vs. witch, accept vs. except, laid vs. lay, [ch|l]oose vs. [ch|l]ose, affect vs. effect (the cold can affect your comfort, but putting on a sweater can have a warming effect - verb vs. noun), less vs. fewer (e.g. less sex means fewer people - the rule is less is for things that are measured in degree, fewer for things that are counted), celebrate vs. celibate (imagine the ramifications of that mix-up in an official document or decree!) :oO
• possessives vs. contractions: your car vs. you're cool; it's cold vs. its flea collar; their problem vs. they're going to be sorry vs. there goes the neighbourhood.
• It's "could/should've" not "could/should of"
• Note that etc. (it's short for et cetera = "and others", not ec-cetra) and e.g. (= for example) and et al. (= and others - no full stop after "et" because it's not an abbreviation) and any other latin expressions you choose to abbreviate require full stops in the appropriate places (and where possible, should be italicised).
• And "rung" as in "I rung her last night" is generally wrong. The word you're seeking is "rang". A rung is part of a ladder, unless you're talking about the present/future/past perfect form of "to ring". There are better explanations of this.
• Oh, and if you're going to be wrong, please be wrong consistently. In my opinion, inconsistency is worse than being wrong because it signals laziness or fence sitting.