On Wed, Aug 07, 2013 at 08:37:55AM -0500, Crypto wrote: > Continuing to SPAM the list with your constant bickering only > increases your lack of credibility.
First, the correct term is "spam", or "Spam" if used at the beginning of a sentence -- never "SPAM". "Spam" is the slang term for unsolicited bulk email (UBE), the canonical definition of spam in the content of SMTP; it's also been used in other contexts, e.g., NNTP, SMS, and so on. "SPAM" is a product of the Hormel Corporation, who have been surprisingly sanguine over many years about our co-opting of the term, doubly so given its negative connotations, triply so given the litigious environment we now enjoy. I think we owe it to them, as a small gesture of consideration, to avoid conflating the two, especially since it's trivially easy to avoid doing so. Also, while SPAM is considered a delicacy by many, it is a rare person indeed who would say the same about spam. Second, none of these message constitute spam. They may be annoying, welcome, lengthy, short, educational, worthless, enlightening, confusing, funny, maddening, repetitive, unique, or any number of other things depending on one's viewpoint: but it is absolutely wrong to label them as "spam" or to label their authors (by extension) "spammers". There has been an unfortunate trend on the part of some who do not know the proper definition of spam or how to use it to apply the label when it clearly isn't applicable; the resulting confusion greatly assists the *real* spammers out there, who have spent much of the last two decades trying to create as much of it as they possibly can, sometimes with great success. ---rsk -- Liberationtech list is public and archives are searchable on Google. Too many emails? Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at [email protected] or changing your settings at https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
