Last Revision: July 21, 2006

Author: seebs@plethora.net

This is an attempt to cover, briefly, the reasons for, purpose of, and nature of, comp.lang.c.moderated. It is cross-posted to comp.lang.c, because the topics of the groups are identical; the only difference is that the moderated newsgroup is able to reject off-topic postings before they reach a wide audience.

This FAQ is not very complete. Questions will be added as they are asked frequently.

This FAQ should generally be available at "http://www.seebs.net/faqs/clcm.html".

Section 0: Topics

0.0: What is comp.lang.c.moderated about?
C. The C programming language. Simple.
0.1: Does anyone have source for reading the COM ports?
This is not a question about C. It's a question about the interface provided to a specific system.
0.2: WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF JOB$$$$!!!
Bully for you, but this post is about jobs, not C. The newsgroup, by contrast, is about C, not jobs.
0.3: MAKE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS NOW!
Not only are most of these illegal, despite the alleged postal regulation numbers "proving" their legality, but they are not about C.
0.4: Can anyone reccommend a good book on C++?
Yes, and they're all reading comp.lang.c++. (Or comp.lang.c++.moderated.)

Section 1: Moderation

1.0: Why is this moderated?
To make the name less misleading. As long time readers of comp.lang.c are well aware, no one reads the FAQ, and no one reads a group before posting. The idea was to make a newsgroup which has the same intended topics as comp.lang.c, but where this is enforceable.
1.1: Who is the moderator?
The moderators are Peter is the primary moderator; Billy and Steve are "backups".
1.2: My post got rejected; who do I complain to?
clcreq@plethora.net is the "moderator" address. Keep in mind, the moderator has final say over the newsgroup. The chances are your article was rejected for one of the following reasons:
  1. Three other people already submitted substantially the same answer. Three may be any number between one and twenty, depending on the quality and quantity of answers.
  2. The post is not really about C. The moderator's opinion on this is generally final.
  3. The post is commercial.
  4. The post is poorly formatted, or has spelling and grammar problems.

These are all good reasons to reject a post. If you disagree, write the moderator address (not the group's posting address), and provide an explanation. Insults will not help; reasoning will.

Section 2: Pointers.

2.0: What should I read?
The comp.lang.c FAQ, posted there monthly, or found at URL http://www.c-faq.com/
2.1: What are better newsgroups for questions about...

If unsure, make sure to read news.announce.newusers.

2.2: My news software can't post - what do I do? HELP!
Mail your post to clc@plethora.net. Mail to this address will be assumed to be for posting unless labeled otherwise.
2.3: Will I be notified if my post is accepted, or if it is rejected?
No. I try to mail bounce notification, but the mass popularity of the internet has resulted in hundreds of invalid email addresses. If my bounce notification bounces, you hear nothing.
2.4: I posted, and got no bounce message, but haven't seen my post. Is something wrong?
Probably not. It may take a week or two for messages to get through. In one notable case, a message sent in April of 1995 only reached me in October of 1995, and my reply didn't reach the correspondent until March of 1996. This is atypical.

It may also be that your return address was invalid.

It is possible, but unlikely, that something is actually "wrong".


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seebs@plethora.net