From: news@xenitec.on.ca (xenitec.on.ca News Administrator)
Subject: SCO Mailing List Administrative FAQ
Resent-From: mmdf@xenitec.on.ca
Submit-To: scogen@xenitec.on.ca
Organization: [resent by] The SCOGEN gateway and Propagation Society
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1992 04:01:21 GMT
Precedence: bulk

      The SCO Mailing List/biz.sco.general Administrivia FAQ
      ------------------------------------------------------

Revision Information
--------------------
Version:  1.11
Date:     12 August 1992
Author:   Stephen M. Dunn
          stephen@bokonon.UUCP
          {uunet.ca,becker.gts.org,xrtll.UUCP}!bokonon!stephen
New Features:  Numerous small changes

NOTE:  All lines that have been added or modified since the last
       version are marked with ** at the start of the line.

First, a simple definition
--------------------------
What is a FAQ?
  It's short for Frequently Asked Questions.  If you have a question,
  look HERE for the answer before posting, so that we don't have lots
  of people asking the same questions every week or two.  Many of the
  most common questions regarding the mailing list and SCO products
  are here somewhere.

Next, a word to those who want technical information
----------------------------------------------------
   There are two different FAQ lists for this newsgroup/mailing list.
This is the administrivia one; it is entirely devoted to stuff about
what this mailing list/newsgroup is about, what others exist, how
to subscribe or unsubscribe, etc.  If you want technical answers, please
look for the companion list which deals with all sorts of technical
questions.

Mailing List Stuff
------------------
What is the automated request address?
  The address is scogen-request@xenitec.on.ca - do NOT send administrative
  requests to the list itself!

What is the human-maintained administrative address?
  The address is scogen-admin@xenitec.on.ca.  Use this address ONLY if
  you can not get the automated one to do what you want.

How do I unsubscribe?
  Send a message to scogen-request@xenitec.on.ca with one of the following
  lines in it:
	Delete: yourname@yourmachine
	Delete: foo!bar!yourmachine!yourname
  You MUST use the same format and address you used when you subscribed.

What if my unsubscribe request doesn't work?
  Check your request; make sure you didn't misspell anything.  If all
  else fails, send a note to scogen-admin@xenitec.on.ca detailing your
  problem.  Do _not_ send a note to the list; we are powerless to
  do anything about it.

How do I change my subscription address?
  Well, you can send multiple requests in the same administrative
  request.  However, there is a waiting period for Add: requests,
  so you may want to send a message to add yourself at your new
  address first, then wait until that succeeds before deleting your
  old address.
  The format of an add request is the same as a delete request,
  except that you replace the "Delete:" with an "Add:".

I think I'll send a test to make sure I can get through to the list
  Don't.  See the Net.Etiquette section for more info.

Are there any other SCO mailing lists?
  Yes.  There are two other SCO lists, both run from xenitec.  There
  is scoodt (biz.sco.opendesktop), which deals specifically with the
  ODT product; to subscribe, send mail to scoodt-request@xenitec.on.ca.
  The other is scoann (biz.sco.announce), which is for product
  announcements relating to SCO operating systems; to subscribe, send
**mail to scoann-request@xenitec.on.ca.  There are also two newsgroups
**in the biz.sco hierarchy (biz.sco.binaries and biz.sco.sources) that
**are not gated to mailing lists.  More on them later ...

What exactly do I find in each of the newsgroups?
   biz.sco.opendesktop: Technical questions and answers and informative
                        postings relating to past, present, and future
                        implementations of the SCO OpenDeskTop operating
                        environment and it's various bundled components.
   
   biz.sco.general:     Questions, answers and comments on SCO products
                        in general, and of course resulting discussions.
   
   biz.sco.announce:    SCO and SCO Developer product announcements of
			interest to current and future users of SCO products,
			and to SCO developers, resellers and distributors.
                        (moderated, followups directed to biz.sco.general).

** biz.sco.binaries:	SCO custom intallable binary packages of
**			useful third-party "public domain" source code.

** biz.sco.sources:	source code ported to work on SCO Xenix, UNIX,
**			or Open Desktop.

How do I send an article to these mailing lists?
  Send articles for        To this address
  biz.sco.general          scogen@xenitec.on.ca
  biz.sco.opendesktop      scoodt@xenitec.on.ca
  biz.sco.announce         scoannmod@xenitec.on.ca
  Note that the announcements list is moderated; anything you send to
  it must be approved by the moderator before it actually makes its
  way out to the rest of the world.
  I will soon add the information on the two moderated newsgroups, but
  I don't have it handy right now.

I have a product that runs under SCO and I want to tell the world!
  Well, this is a biz.* newsgroup, which means that advertisements
  _are_ allowed.  Once again, keep net.etiquette in mind when writing
  your message.  Also, consider whether it should be directed to
  the SCO general mailing list, or to either the ODT or announcement
  lists.  You probably do not need to send it to more than one.

I always get multiple copies of articles!
  Maybe you're listed more than once in the mailing list.  If you sent
  more than one Add: request, perhaps thinking one had bounced, you may
  be listed more than once.

I sometimes get multiple copies of articles!
  I know of two possible causes for this.  One is that many articles
  get crossposted to more than one newsgroup.  For example, it is not
  uncommon for the same article to be posted to biz.sco.general and
  to biz.sco.opendesktop.  If you subscribe to both lists, you will
  receive two copies of the article, since it appears in both lists.
  The other possibility is that some site upstream of you may have a
  flaky mailer that occasionally duplicates messages (I've been
  bitten by this one).  There is no known cure for the former condition;
  the latter, if you can identify it, can possibly be remedied by means
  of a polite note to the sysadmin at the offending site.

Are there any other SCO newsgroups?
  Yes.  There are several, including (but not necessarily limited to)
  comp.unix.xenix, comp.unix.xenix.misc, comp.unix.xenix.sco,
  biz.sco.sources, and biz.sco.binaries.  To the best of my knowledge,
**none of these are available as mailing lists.  Keep in mind also
**that there are five biz.sco.* newsgroups.

Are there any other non-SCO Unix newsgroups?
  Yes.  There are too many to list here.  There is a comp.unix.*
  hierarchy, which would be a good place to start looking.

What other stuff shows up here periodically?
  All kinds of goodies pass through this list from time to time.  You
  will find lists of SLSes (Support Level Supplements), EFSes (Enhanced
  Feature Supplements, if memory serves), product compatibility
  matrices, lists of the most current versions of each SCO product,
  and stuff like that.  I highly recommend capturing the most recent
  one of each of these and saving it somewhere on your machine; they
  can be very handy to keep around.

Where can I find this FAQ list?
  Well, since I'm not on the Internet, it's unfortunately not available
  via FTP.  It is posted twice monthly to this newsgroup/mailing list,
  as is the technical FAQ list.  If you need one or the other of them in
  the meantime, send me a brief note at the address listed at the top
  and I'll send you a copy.  DO NOT post a request for the FAQ to the
  list.

I have a suggestion/correction for the FAQ list
  By all means, let me know!  But do NOT post it to the list.  Send it
  directly to me at the address listed at the top.  The FAQ list is only
  as good as you make it.

Net.Etiquette
-------------
Where do my messages go?
  Your message will be mailed to hundreds of people around the world
  via the mailing list.  Also, since it's gated to a newsgroup, it will
  end up on thousands of machines all around the world, with a potential
  audience of tens of thousands of people.
  Keep this in mind as you write, because people will perceive you
  according to how you write.  Your grammar, spelling, and politeness
  will be noted by all of these people, so make a good impression.
  And don't forget to press your Return key after every 70 characters
  or so.

What do I put in my .signature?
  Well, it's a good idea to put your name, email address (both an
  internet address and a UUCP bang path are useful), your company
  name and job title (if appropriate), and possibly your phone number
  and mailing address.
  Keep it short, though; four lines or so is a good guideline.

How much of the previous message should I include in my reply?
  You should include the salient points of the previous message.  Nothing
  more.  You don't need to include the headers or the .signature or any
  other stuff that doesn't provide information relevant to the question.
  If you are replying to several points in the previous message, then
  include the section to which you are replying, and then type your
  reply immediately below it.  Then include the next point, and type
  your reply immediately below it.  This will help people keep track
  of what points you're addressing.

I think I'll send a test to make sure I can get through to the list
  DON'T DO THIS.  This is NOT a test newsgroup.  Your test message
  will waste large amounts of computing and communications resources
  as it travels to every continent (yes, it _will_ go all around the
  world).  Not only will this make people angry, but it will also
  make you look stupid.

Nobody replied to my question, so I'll send it again
  Don't do this, either.  If your message was sent and nobody replied to
  it, you will likely find exactly the same response if you post it
  again, and you will have used up more computing and communications
  resources and have gained nothing.

SCO sucks and <someone else> has a better product!
  If you have something _constructive_ to say, then go ahead.  But if
  you don't, then spare us your flame war.

This isn't the right place to post this question, but ...
**Well then, don't post it here.  There are several hundred Usenet
**newsgroups and dozens upon dozens of mailing lists; chances are
**pretty good that one of these is the appropriate place.  If you
**post a question to an inappropriate newsgroup, you really are
**wasting large amounts of disk space and transmission bandwidth as
**it goes all around the world.
**Note that even if your question is about an SCO product, the
**SCO general mailing list/biz.sco.general may not be the right
**place for it.  If it's an ODT question, post it to the ODT list.
**If it's a product announcement, send it to the announcement list.
**If you have source or a binary that you've ported to SCO, use the
**source or binaries newsgroups.

I like to use tabs in my email.
  Please don't.  Tab stops may be set differently on different terminals,
  and what looks perfectly lined up to you will be gibberish on someone
  else's machine.  This is particularly important to remember if you're
  drawing a diagram.

What are the latest product versions?
-------------------------------------
  Periodically, SCO posts a list of the latest versions of all of their
  products to this list.  In the meantime, here are the latest versions
  of several major SCO products:
  Xenix:  2.3.4 (released in 1991)
  Unix:   3.2.4 (released in February 1992)
  ODT:    2.0 (released in June 1992)
  TCP/IP: 1.0.1 for Xenix (1.2 to be released sometime in 1992)
          1.1.3 for Unix (1.2 to be released sometime in 1992)
  NFS:    1.1.1 (1.2 to be released sometime in 1992)
  MPX:    1.1 (2.0 to be released sometime in 1992)

What is SCO's Phone Number?
---------------------------

   Here are some of SCO's numbers; note that the (800) ones are
only applicable within North America.

SCO sales                           (800) 726-8649 = (800) SCO-UNIX
SCO (sales / tech support)          (408) 425-7222
SCO Customer Service & SoftCare     (800) 347-4381
SCO SofTech number                  (800) 726-4911
SCO Support fax                     (408) 427-5443
SCO Canada (scocan)                 (416) 922-1937
  (Note that Canadian support is now handled through Santa Cruz, not
   Toronto)
SCO Federal Systems Group, VA       (703) 715-8700
SCO Federal Systems Group FAX       (703) 715-8750
SCO London                          +44 (0)923 816344
SCO London FAX                      +44 (0)923 817781

How Do I Connect to SCO's Machines via UUCP?
--------------------------------------------

Tell me about SLSes and EFSes.
  SLSes (Support Level Supplements) and EFSes (Enhanced Feature Support)
  are SCO's way of fixing bugs and improving performance between releases.
  Every couple of weeks, SCO posts lists of all SLSes and EFSes here.  If
  you're having a problem, look at these lists and see if any of them
  will help you.
  If you have anonymous FTP access, log into ftp.uu.net and look around
  the sco-archive directory.  Remember to turn on binary mode before
  getting any binary files!  If your ftp doesn't recognize ftp.uu.net,
  try 137.39.1.9 or 192.48.96.9.
  To look around, telnet to ftp.uu.net.  Log in as "ftp", and supply your
  username and fully qualified domain name as the password (e.g.
  log in as ftp and give joecool@snoopy.peanuts.com as your password).
  Look around the vendor/sco directory hierarchy.

  If you don't have FTP, you can get them via anonymous UUCP from SCO.
  You can find the information on how to do this in your SCO documentation.
  This information is also included in the lists of SLSes and EFSes that
  SCO posts here.  I've included a brief summary below.
  When a new SLS comes out, it's not a bad idea to wait a month or so
  before using it.  Sometimes new bugs are discovered in SLSes and they
  are withdrawn and fixed.
  There are also directories for games, updated terminal information,
  and other miscellaneous tidbits.  See the section on how to contact
  SCO for more details.

   This information is culled from the list of available SLSes that
SCO posts periodically.

Machine name: sosco

Phone numbers: (408) 425-3502 (2 lines, 300-9600 baud V.32 standard)
	       (408) 429-1786 (9600 baud Telebit)

Login name: uusls   (fourth character is the letter "l" rather than numeral "1")
No password

   SLSes are stored in /usr/spool/uucppublic/SLS.  If you are not sure
of the file you want, download the file file.list in this directory.  For
more information, check the list of SLSes (and the companion list of
EFSes) in this group every few weeks.  There are also directories for
EFS, Term (updated termcap/terminfo entries), Games (including GIF source
code and a viewer, and some sample GIFs), and Devref (which contains
unsupported software).

How Do I Send Email to SCO?
---------------------------

   You can send information requests to info@sco.com.  Support requests
can be sent to support@sco.com, but note that an actual phone call may
well get your problem resolved faster.  Sending email rather than making
a phone call does _not_ mean that you don't have to pay for support
(beyond your 30 days of installation support).

   If you have a suggestion for SCO regarding their products, you can
post it here or send it to SCO directly, though the latter may appear
to go into a bitbucket.  There are several SCO employees here, including
some development folks, and they do like to hear suggestions on how you
think they could better serve your needs.

Newsgroups: biz.sco.general