XPost: alt.comp.software.thunderbird, alt.usage.english, alt.english.usage   
   XPost: news.software.readers   
   From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Wed, 9/4/2024 8:29 PM, HenHanna wrote:   
   > On 9/4/2024 2:53 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:   
   >> On 9/3/2024 6:52 PM, HenHanna wrote:   
   >>>  >>>  (Thunderbird won't let me cross-post.)   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>> really?      (my TB  lets me Xpost  alot.)   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>> TB recently had a  problem of dropped  posts (from earlier this year)   
   >>   
   >> E-S is killing a lot of cross posts as spam.   
   >>   
   >> Lynn   
   >>   
   >   
   >   
   > but this Thread  is  unaffected,  apparently.   
   >   
      
   Servers usually have a global limit, as to how many   
   newsgroups maximum can be in the Newsgroup list.   
      
   But there are also crosspost rules, designed for   
   certain "abuse patterns".   
      
   Let's make an example:   
      
      alt.cowboys   
      alt.indians   
      
      Subject: Cowboys suck   
      Newsgroups:  alt.cowboys, alt.indians   
      
   The purpose of trolling messages, is to make 500 message threads,   
   where the cowboys say naughty things about the indians, and   
   the indians respond in fashion. This technique is used in soc.* for example.   
   Find two groups that have been fighting with one another   
   since the year 1066, say something incendiary, walk away.   
      
   Crosspost rules then, are crafted to stop that. "No crosspost in soc.* ".   
   This reduces off-topic trolling. "No crosspost in comp.os.linux.advocacy "   
   (COLA trolling).   
      
   If messages are being discarded, and they have not exceeded the   
   global crosspost limit, chances are one of the groups in the list has   
   a "reputation as troll fodder", and crossposting is not allowed.   
      
   USENET administrators do not micromanage the server. But if, say,   
   20% of the server bandwidth was being used for a fixed troll pattern,   
   an administrator may choose to "fix" the issue.   
      
   And not all server rules need be published. Neither does the   
   status of the rules need to be updated on a minute-by-minute basis.   
   Say for example, the administrator removes the soc.* trolling rule.   
   Would you tell the soc.* trolls that ? No :-) Don't expect the   
   server status page, to make the life of the trolls easier, by   
   explaining everything to them.   
      
   When AIOE was still running, some of the status messages were   
   a bit terse. For example, people receiving "Banlist" used to freak   
   out when that word appeared after an attempt to post. They would   
   write into the support page and ask "Am I blocked?" as if the   
   administrator goes around individually slapping fingers. well,   
   that wasn't what the message meant. The banlist may have been   
   certain keywords. Sometimes the custom status messages, leave   
   something to be desired, because the poster takes the status   
   "personally" as an affront. when that's not what the rule is   
   doing. If someone doesn't want you on their server, they can   
   just disable your account, and that has a different set of symptoms   
   than the Post rules do.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)