A86: Guidelines for Posting


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A86: Guidelines for Posting




This mailing list was really helpful and on track up and until a few months
ago.  Many of the awsome assembly programmers have left or ignore this list
because it has turned into "threads completely irrelevant to the TI-86"
that "clogs my mailbox with a bunch of useless garbage" (Kirk Meyer).  If
this continues, the list will be nothing but newbies trying to move beyond
"Hello, world!" programs and there will be no one to help them.
Programming assembly on the 86 is why you are on the list, right?

There are other lists to subscribe to if you have general "how to" or
TI-BASIC questions about the calculator.  These can be found on www.ti.com
and www.ticalc.org.

There are unwritten rules about posting to a list that should be observed.
Try to follow guidelines similiar to the ones below before posting to this
list:

1)  Read everything posted and replied to on the list for at least 1-3
months before you ask a question.  Archives for since the list started are
at ticalc.org.  It is strongly advised to read these too if you just
subscribed.

2) Check out beginner's tutorials (try http://www.dogtech.com/cybop/ti86/
as a start) before you post.  There have been at least 20-30 "How do I
compile an asm program?" since the list started.  This is an actual example
of a very simple question answered in almost every tutorial and FAQ.

3)  If the message is not relevant to assembly programming on the 86, do
NOT post it.  This IS an ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE list.  It is not a general or
basic programming list, contrary to some popular belief.

4)  If it is not relevant to the TI-86 at all, DEFINITELY DO NOT post it.
There have been 30-40 posts about Windows in the last month, as an example.
 There are other lists and news groups available to discuss that kind of
information.

5)  General discussion related to hardware add-ons for the TI-86 should not
posted.  ticalc.org maintains a hardware lists that should be used for this
purpose.

6)  DO NOT reply to irrelevant postings.  As Dan Eble (the moderator for
this list, and co-creater of ZShell) has said, ignore it and it will go away.

7)  Do NOT post 100 lines of code and ask why it doesn't work.  No one has
time to disect a huge routine and debug it for you.  Posting 5-10 lines
with comments is acceptable.  You should be able to narrow down the problem
yourself.

Thank you for following these guidelines.  This will make learning about
assembly programming more enjoyable for everyone.


// David Phillips
// mailto:electrum@tfs.net
// ICQ: 13811951
// AIM: electrum32