clpannounce problem

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

More than a week ago I posted an announcement of a CPAN module release
to clpannounce. I've reposted twice, but it has not showed up (while
other posts have). Since I believe that Randal is a moderator of that
group, I also wrote him (twice), but no response (yet).

I have a feeling that the fact that I posted from my (e-mail address removed)
address (which I don't read) might have something to do with it, but
OTOH I have successfully posted similar announcements from that address
previously.

Could somebody please enlighten me on what's involved to get a post
through on clpannounce? If this would not be an appropriate place to
bring up this issue, I'd appreciate a pointer about what to do instead.

 

[brian d foy]

Could somebody please enlighten me on what's involved to get a post
through on clpannounce?

Randal has to approve it, but you have to get your email past his
spam filters. You should use a real email address that he can
respond to.

 

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

Randal has to approve it, but you have to get your email past his
spam filters. You should use a real email address that he can
respond to.

Thanks for your reply. I received a private message from Randal, which
basically told me the same, so hopefully my fourth post will now make it.

FYI: Below please find the content of the automated message that is sent
in response to a comp.lang.perl.announce post:

<QUOTE>
Your posting for comp.lang.perl.announce has been received and queued.

I will send you a message when I choose to either accept or reject the
posting. I try to process the postings at least once every seven
days, but generally it has been a lot more often than that (within
minutes if I'm on-line, for example).

The approved charter says "comp.lang.perl.announce will be a
low-volume, moderated group for announcements of new releases of perl
or its extensions (oraperl, sybperl, etc.) and periodic postings
related to perl."

I have interpreted this charter as follows:

(1) your article must contain the word "perl", (this is my de-spamming
filter , and

(2) your article must be of the form "I have a solution to your problem",
not "I have a problem that needs solving", and

(3) you must not use a spam-proofed email address (of course, you
won't see this message if you do!), and

(4) for software, the article must be describing something in which
the fact that it is *written* in Perl is significant (in other words,
a tool that could just as easily be in Object Oriented COBOL as far
as the users are concerned *does not* qualify), and

(5) the article must *not* be commercial in nature (general rule
for the comp.* hierarchy, not specific to this group). This
includes *all* job and resume postings, and

(6) if it's Perl software, it must be mirrored into the CPAN and
announced as such, unless you can convince me that it's an extremely
unusual case.

Please do not include actual source code, unless it is part of an
example for documentation. If you need to find a home for your code,
you may wish to contact the Perl archivist mailing list at
(e-mail address removed) or the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network
(CPAN) administrators at (e-mail address removed) after first having read
<http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html>.

Please do not include the *entire* documentation of your item. An
*announcement* is not a user's guide!

If your article is rejected, you may consider posting your article to
comp.lang.perl.misc, comp.lang.perl.modules, comp.lang.perl.moderated,
or comp.lang.perl.tk instead, if it is appropriate.

Thank you,
Randal L. Schwartz
(e-mail address removed)
chief moderator, comp.lang.perl.announce
</QUOTE>

 

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

Thanks for your reply. I received a private message from Randal,
which basically told me the same, so hopefully my fourth post will
now make it.

The fourth post did not make it, neither did the fifth or sixth post. At
this time I'm frustrated and disappointed at Randal's ignoring of my
requests that he either approves it or at least lets me know the reason
why he doesn't.

For you to better understand the absurd in this situation, below follow
the private messages that have been exchanged between Randal and me
since I asked for advice here:

<'STORY'>

RS (Feb 22)
It wasn't obvious from your post that you also had the code in the
CPAN, and when I hit reply to your CLPA post, I see that it's
a non-address.

I do not approve non-address postings in CLPA. You must be willing
to answer email sent to the address in your FROM: line for a CLPA
posting to be approved. If I approved prior email that does not meet
that rule, it was my error.

GH (Feb 22)
Thanks for your reply.

Okay, you're the boss, your rules. I have temporarily disabled the
autoresponder for my (e-mail address removed) address, and posted a fourth
time, making it obvious that CGI::ContactForm is a CPAN module. Please
approve it this time.

RS (Feb 22)
I don't understand "temporarily" in that sentence.

Why aren't you posting from "XXXXXX@XXXXXXX", since that's obviously
you?

GH (Feb 22)
Because of spam, of course. I'm using the (e-mail address removed) address on
Usenet and other public forums where non-obfuscated email addresses are
retained in archived messages. That's why I include a link to a contact
form in the sig.

RS (Feb 22)
But if that's not an address you read on a regular basis, it's not your
address, and I have a policy on no obfuscated addresses in CLPA.

GH (Feb 22)
I just read the policy; just posted it to clpmisc, btw. Why are you
enforcing a literal application of it when I provide an easy way to
contact me? Are you paid by the spammers? ;-)

Anyway, I just created the address (e-mail address removed), and posted my
announcement from that address (the fifth post).

[RS silent while approving other announcement at CLPA]

GH (Feb 23)
What are you waiting for now?

[RS silent while approving yet another announcement]

GH (Feb 27)
Almost two weeks have passed since I first tried to announce my module
release at CLPA. The latest attempt, posted from a working email
address, was made last Tuesday, but it hasn't been approved yet, while
other announcements have.

Can you please approve my latest post, or let me know why you do not.

[GH made a sixth post - after all RS *might* have discarded the fifth
one by mistake...]

[RS silent; no approval]

</'STORY'>

My patience is now exhausted, so I just crossposted my announcement to
three un- or self-moderated groups instead, including this one.

I have no idea how 'the inner circle' of the Perl community works, but
to me it seems as if it's time for Randal to be replaced as the
moderator of CLPA.

 

[brian d foy]

For you to better understand the absurd in this situation, below follow
the private messages that have been exchanged between Randal and me
since I asked for advice here:

It's rude to post private email. This is the sort of behavior that
makes people kill-file or ignore you.

You've basically made it hard for Randal to help you. You can either
provide a real emial address with your announcement, or not make
an announcement. You see my real email address in my posts to usenet,
and you don't see me whining about address harvesters.

My patience is now exhausted, so I just crossposted my announcement to
three un- or self-moderated groups instead, including this one.

I have no idea how 'the inner circle' of the Perl community works, but
to me it seems as if it's time for Randal to be replaced as the
moderator of CLPA.

There is not an inner circle. Randal is the guy who approves cpla posts.
He told you what you needed to do, and you didn't do it, and sound
like you a bit of a jerk in the process. You know exactly how it works
because he told you how it works. If you want people to help you, don't
be a jerk towards them.

It's not as if anyone actually pays attention to clpa anyway, and there
are many other ways to announce modules. You're making a big stink and
embarrassing yourself over something that has almost no value.

 

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

It's rude to post private email. This is the sort of behavior that
makes people kill-file or ignore you.

I know it's normally rude to post private email. In this case, they are
of no personal nature whatsoever. They only contain Randal's
clarifications of the policy he is applying when maintaining a service
for the Perl community, which makes it justified IMO to let others know
about them. (And for obvious reason I wasn't able to get Randal's
permission.)

You've basically made it hard for Randal to help you. You can either
provide a real emial address with your announcement, or not make
an announcement.

I did just that when Randal asked me to. He still chose to ignore me.

Randal is the guy who approves cpla posts.
He told you what you needed to do, and you didn't do it,

Yes, I did!

and sound
like you a bit of a jerk in the process. You know exactly how it works
because he told you how it works. If you want people to help you, don't
be a jerk towards them.

Excuse me!?

It's not as if anyone actually pays attention to clpa anyway, and there
are many other ways to announce modules.

Well, that's what Abigail said, too. I did not have that insight.

You're making a big stink and
embarrassing yourself over something that has almost no value.

That's your twisted conclusion.

Randal's (lack of) action in this case is very annoying. Some people
have found the module in question to be useful; noone has claimed
otherwise. I would have thought that contributions of useful modules
should be encouraged, not deliberately discouraged.

Randal has done a lot for the Perl community, and I admire and respect
him for that. But you seem to think that makes him above reproach. I for
one disagree.

 

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

It's not as if anyone actually pays attention to clpa anyway, and there
are many other ways to announce modules. You're making a big stink and
embarrassing yourself over something that has almost no value.

http://faq.perl.org/perlfaq2.html#What_are_the_Perl_ne

CLPA is the first mentioned group in that FAQ entry. Seems like a
revision highly advisable.

 

[A. Sinan Unur]

http://faq.perl.org/perlfaq2.html#What_are_the_Perl_ne

CLPA is the first mentioned group in that FAQ entry. Seems like a
revision highly advisable.

FYI, the list is in alphabetical order.

Sinan