"Don Guillett" wrote...
FWIW, I fully agree that we should tell the OP about netiquette HERE.
Sometimes we are a bit more curt than we should be but we SHOULD tell them.
....

In newsgroups other than the microsoft.public.excel.* ones, crossposting AS
DISTINCT FROM multiposting is acceptable conduct. In another thread a few
weeks ago, David McRitchie claimed this wasn't so in 'technical' newsgroups.
I countered with the observation that Google Groups searches of
comp.lang.perl.* and comp.lang.awk (and comp.os.linux.misc upon subsequent
review) have few is any complaints about crossposting, mostly complaints
about crossposting to IRRELEVANT newsgroups. Check for yourself if you don't
believe me.

All that matters in USENET is that postings be ON-TOPIC. It's quite possible
that one posting can be on-topic in a dozen different newsgroups.

But it's only here that people get bent out of shape about crossposting.
Disclaimer: I don't care what Chip or David's sites have to say about
netiquette if USENET rules are different. Even for microsoft.* newsgroups,
I'll go along with the SPONSOR'S (Microsoft's) rules, and there's squat all
about either crossposting or multiposting in

http://www.microsoft.com/communities...on123121120120

Now we do agree about file attachments. Why? Because they waste bandwidth
and make synchronizing take longer. Also, there's virus worries (not much a
reason, IMO, since it's easy to turn off macros). But all are objective
reasons. Also, there's broad consensus that it's bad. As for multiposting,
also bad, mostly for the same reasons as well as fracturing responses. But
crossposting is different.

Anyone using Outlook Express or any other newsreader that uses message IDs
as keys into [effectively] databases of newsgroup articles suffers NOTHING
from crossposted articles - once a crossposted message is read in one
newsgroup, it's marked as read in all others. This doesn't help with CDO or
Google or the [execrable] AOL newsreader, but there are alternatives to
these, many still free, so I have little sympathy. And even so, damn few of
the regular responders use Web interfaces.

There's a broad consensus about file attachments and *multiposting*, but
less of one for crossposting (if I'm the only one who doesn't mind it, so be
it). There's also the *FACT* that USENET netiquette is at most silent about
crossposting per se, and ONLY requires that postings be on-topic. That's why
it's not uncommon to see questions about writing firmware for video
controllers in comp.os.linux.development.system and comp.harware with no one
getting huffy.

The claim that many of the regulars read all groups is irrelevant if the
regulars offer no answers (granted a rare occurrence in some of the ngs).
Also, there are quite a few regulars in .programming who never seem to
respond in .misc or .worksheet.functions.

Crossposting just doesn't bother me, and I find it odd that the rest of you
get so bent out of shape about it because you're not all so stupid that you
fail to understand that it's NOT THE SAME as multiposting. Or are you?