Please review the charter as outlined above. Advertising and blatant commercialism is frowned upon. Although this is an unmoderated group and no controls or persons can prevent advertising or commercialism, prepare to be flamed if you do not heed this advice. The more your post looks like an ad, the more flames you will get. See the above newuser group as reference. THE PURPOSE OF THIS GROUP IS TO DISCUSS TECHNICAL ISSUES AND SHARE INFORMATION. There are other groups for the purpose of buying and selling goods and services. The group is a place to meet and talk about Charter issues.
Equipment for sale ads and want to buy ads are discouraged here. Help wanted and job wanted ads are not discouraged by private parties but are discouraged by "headhunters" or employment agencies since they are paid professionals and this is a forum for discussion of technical issues and people here, for the most part, pay for the privelege of being here. If continuous HVAC-related job-postings become a nuisance, they will be discouraged and thus subject to "flames". When posting job related articles, please ask for all responses via email
Product X versus product Y
Questions are not discouraged, but "discussions" on the merit of one
product or another are discouraged. Why? Because some vendors have been
known to ask and answer their own questions. If you read an article that
appears to be obvious commercialism, please respond to persons posting such
articles by email.
If you wish to know where you can get information on a commercial product, ask for response via email. Also, be sure to answer such questions via email. I'm sure no one who answers in the negative will want to be sued for libel if they feel strongly about it!
Professional HVAC subscribers
Similar to the way other sci.engr newsgroups are aimed at professionals in
their fields, this group is aimed at professionals in the field of HVAC
engineering, for the purpose of dicussing charter issues, as outlined
above, with other professionals. This does not mean that you have to be an
HVAC professional to participate, as long as you understand the target
audience intended.
Non-professionals who post questions to this group should keep in mind that
most subscribers expect other subscribers to be professionals having
something to do with HVAC engineering. This is not to say that residential
HVAC subjects are discouraged here, only that most subscribers assume that
they are conversing with someone who has at least a basic understanding of
the language used by HVAC scientist, engineers, and technicians. This is
also not to say that do-it-yourselfers are discouraged from posting
questions to the HVAC `experts' that regularly read these articles. Many
of the `experts' are glad to help homeowners with their HVAC problems,
others would rather not. If you are a layperson, and would like to ask the
`experts' an HVAC question, please use words like "layman question" or
"homeowner question" in the subject line of your post. If you post a
question like "My home air conditioning system stopped working, what should
I do?", you shouldn't expect much of an answer since the question is to
vague. Do-it-yourselfers should be prepared to provide detailed and
specific information on the problem.
As with any public information volunteered on Usenet, accuracy is *not*
guaranteed. Take advice you see here at your own risk. One should hire
certified personnel to work on their HVAC equipment, not rely on Usenet as
a replacement for hands-on professional involvement.
Controlling Unwanted posts.
These admonitions were concluded by the consensus of the group. Future
discussions can change them. The keeper of this document will adjust them
if the consensus changes it's mind. For such persons who insist on
ignoring the admonitions outlined here, gently remind them (in case they're
just a newbie who doesn't know any better), by email that the purpose of
the newsgroup is technical discussion and information sharing and not
commercialism. Please Don't post a follow-up article flaming those
persons. Doing so will only waste more space in the newsgroup and readers
time. If you must flame due to repeated violation of the groups' Charter
and FAQ, then please do it by email or in alt.flames.