I am making two changes to the FAQ, and summarizing them here.  You
will be able to obtain a up-to-date copy (using the instructions
in the header above) in a couple of days.
 
1) The restrictions placed on gatewaying FML issues to GEnie forums has
   been lifted.  A new pet forum coordinator has personally assured me
   that:
 
    a) The pet forum will not attempt to impose content restrictions
       (specifically, personal phone numbers and addresses as they
       might appear in people's submitted articles to the FML).  Thus,
       FML issues will not be altered by them or demanded of me.
    b) They will only use "age" in determining when to purge FML
       issues.  That is, FML issues will be deleted (as necessary
       for space etc.) in a strict chronological sequence.
 
   I have given the final permissions for the gateway to resume operation,
   but have not as yet received confirmation that it is actually running.
   I suggest that direct GEnie subscribers retain their subscriptions
   until I put confirmation here indicating that the GEnie gateway
   is actually "up".  Then you can unsubscribe from the FML and read
   the FML in the GEnie pet forum.  And save a little money.
 
   Please have patience, because the GEnie upload is apparently a
   manual operation.  I believe, initially, that Bill Gruber will
   resume this task until handed off to a forum coordinator.
 
   I apologize for the fuss about this in the past, but I believed I'd
   be abdicating my responsibility to the FML readership by submitting
   to external editorial control - indeed, a banning of some of the
   information that people find most useful.  I am pleased to report
   that they have finally come to their senses.
 
   Change to the FAQ: the GEnie restrictions has simply been removed.
 
2) I put the section that Pam wrote (below) as section 10 in the FML
   FAQ.  Thanks Pam.
 
|Chris,
|I finally got around to writing a paragraph about the Ferret FAQ, to
|be included in the FML FAQ.  The only thing I didn't do is pick which
|question number it should be.  Let me know if you have any questions,
|and feel free to make modifications to this if they seem necessary.
|
|Thanks,
|- Pam
|
|- - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
| *) What kinds of questions should I NOT ask the FML?
|
|    Many people on the FML have a lot of experience with ferrets, and
|    they're happy to help out a new owner or one encountering a
|    problem he's never seen before.  As you might imagine, though,
|    some questions get asked over and over again.  Before you ask what
|    may be a common question, please look over the Ferret FAQ and see
|    if it's already been discussed in detail.  (What you're reading
|    right now is the FML FAQ, not the Ferret FAQ.)
|
|    The Ferret FAQ has five parts.  It's available by anonymous FTP
|    from rtfm.mit.edu, in the directory /pub/usenet/news.answers/ferret-faq/
|
|    If you don't have access to FTP, you can request the files by
|    mail.  To receive all five parts in separate email messages, send
|    email to
|                      [log in to unmask]
|    with the single line (in the body of the message):
|    GET ANSWERS PACKAGE FERRET
|
|    If none of these works, you can send a note to Pam Greene
|    ([log in to unmask]) and she'll be happy to send you a
|    copy of the FAQ.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0908]