[3837] in Central_America
Re: A Modest Proposal
rjbarbal@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (rjbarbal@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu Nov 21 06:28:28 1991
I hadn't meant my suggestion to be viewed as specifying
strict guidelines to be forced upon users interested in
displaying their plans. Instead, I meant that email be
sent to all users informing them that .plan files would
be displayed by default in the CA meeting, warning them
that there are insidious snoopers out here with nothing
better to do besides pass time reading other's thoughts
and flaming about how annoying (is it really that bad?)
it is to see virtually identical .plan files every day.
No one should tell any user what to include or omit in
his/her .plan - that verges on censorship. But there
are still polite ways of informing users of what the
snoopers commonly accept as an interesting plan. I
think that advising new users to put login notices
in their .project files will alleviate the problems
that people have had with repetitive plans. I think
that an email message introducing .plan files and the
CA meeting sent to all new users can mention that it's
preferred that a user put login/logout notices in one's
.project file. A similar ettiquette has developed over
Zephyr. Most users learn quickly that sending messages
that contain huge fonts, beeps, or other special at (@)
commands tends to annoy other users, particularly those
logged on tty mode. This annoyance certainly is partly
the fault of the tty users, who should know better than
to subscribe to instances like white-magic. Likewise,
it is partially the fault of the CA readers that they
become annoyed upon seeing repetitious announcements
since there is little reason for their snooping. I
don't think we should censor users for any reason,
even if they send the same message with a different
date attached every day. Those users who prefer not
to appear in the database should be given that option
and those who like having their plans exhibited should
be allowed to remain, regardless of their plan. CA may
be best viewed as a service, not as "a fundamental right
or requested privilege" as suggested by amgreene in the
third proposal [3822]. Providing a set of suggestions
for new users is much less restricting than "imposing
content restrictions (such as no login/logout data)"
would be under the third proposal. I think the best
and easiest solution, satisfying the greatest number
of people possible, is to send email messages to all
new users informing them as to what .plan files are,
how to set the appropriate permissions to make .plan
files world-readable (thereby eliminating the system
messages and ensuring that the plans are displayed),
and warning them of this meeting and the "electronic
voyeurs" who snoop on people's thoughts. Give users
the option of requesting removal, subtly mention the
availability of the .project file for login notices,
and remove any users from the database who prefer to
avoid being spied upon. This, I hope, would resolve
any further problems. I hope you liked the margins.
