Re: FEDORA net etiquette

"Mikkel L. Ellertson" <mikkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> · Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:28:47 -0500

Joachim Backes wrote:
> Until tomorrow, I always sent signed emails to the FEDORA mailing list,
> where the signature was issued by the PKI of my computer center (german
> university). But some fedora list people told me that even very small
> emails always have a size of at least 8 kilobyte.
> 
Could you clarify this a bit - were they saying that signing the
e-mail made it always at least 8k, or were they saying that even
unsigned e-mail was also that big? I suspect that it was the later...

> Therefore i switched to unsigned emails.
> 
> My question: are there rules for the fedora email traffic saying: do not
> use signatures?

Considering that with the headers included, a PGP signature adds
about 10 lines of text. (Most of it headers.) This is a small amount
of space, considering the problems a couple of faked e-mail can
cause. I only want to be blamed for a flame war if I really started it!

If you are really concerned about the size of e-mails, a better
place to start is with quoting. I see far too many e-mails where the
entire thread is quoted, including the list signatures, just to add
a "me too" or "+1" to the last comment in the thread. Or the entire
log or config file listing is included in every reply to the
original message. Trim it down to just the pertinent parts when
replying - it not only cuts down on waisted bandwidth, but it makes
it easier to see what you are talking about in the reply.

Mikkel
-- 

  Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!