How do I subscribe to the mailing list? Send an email to gllug-request@gllug.org.uk with the subject "subscribe". You will receive a confirmation email containing instructions on how to complete your subscription.  How do I unsubscribe from the mailing list? Send an email to gllug-request@gllug.org.uk with the subject "unsubscribe". You will receive a reply confirming your removal from the list.  What is top posting? And why have I been asked not to do it? Conversations on mailing lists are not like conversations in real life. It's not always easy to remember exactly what was asked of whom, nor what the response was. To help this, it has long been the tradition on mailing lists to retain part of the text of the post you replying to so that people joining the thread have some sort of context, and those involved in the thread know which point, or issue, you're replying to. Top posting is when you reply to a message by adding your contribution at the start of your email, and then quoting the entirety of the message you are replying to below.

A top-posted reply

 I've been asked to quote and/or trim my emails properly, what does that mean? When you are replying to an list posting, you are most likely replying to specific things someone has written. If you just hit reply and start typing below the entire text of the email you're responding to then it will be difficult for others to be sure of exactly what you're replying to. Hence quoting and trimming. For each piece of text you are responding to, you should quote the relevant piece of text and trim text that isn't necessary to get your point across. FIXME: Example needed.  I've been told not to send HTML emails to the list. What's so wrong with that? Sending HTML email is a bad idea for several reasons: You make bad assumptions about the capabilities of the mail clients used by those reading what you send. Making people read text that looks  like this is unlikely  to make them want to help you. To try to work round the problem above, some mail readers send the message text twice in one email, once as HTML and once as plain text. This is stupidity compounding stupidity. If you send HTML email to the list you can expect complaints, you can expect to be ignored and you can expect few helpful responses from list members.  May I advertise my company/product/service on the list? If you are considering posting to the mailing list anything that could be thought of as commercial, including advertising job vacancies, then please take note of the following: Commercial postings are allowed, but only when they are strictly relevant to the Linux community in and around London. Relevance is subjective and it will be up to you to decide whether to post or not. This may mean subscribing to the list to absorb a couple of days worth of messages so you can get a feel for the group. Do not make regular postings, for any period, without prior agreement. Please post in plain text only. If you are posting an advert for a product or service your subject line should begin with 'ADVERT:' and include some sensible text describing your message. Indicate how much your service or product costs. If you're advertising a conference or event for which an entrace fee is charged, please including pricing details. Keep it short. Brief details and a web page address should be enough. Services should be specific to Linux users. Only post about hardware that is especially suitable to Linux users. If you are posting an advert for a job vacancy your subject line should begin with 'VACANCY: ' and include some sensible text describing your message. Only post if your message contains all relevant information. Type of skills required to fill the vacancy. Location details - don't just say 'London', it's a big place. Type of employer. Minimum salary. No postings from agencies. If you are a new agency that deals specifically with Linux jobs then you should post just the one 'ADVERT:' message, then those looking for jobs will know where to find you. If you are a commercial poster, then thank you for taking the time to read these guidelines. The group appreciates appropriate postings and these guidelines are here to help you decide what is appropriate. Spamming the mailing list with inappropriate messages would just damage your reputation, probably your most valuable asset.