Kill Files

[ph@netcom.com (Peter Hendrickson)]

I've been experimenting with a kill file.  It is quite effective,
takes very little time to set up, and imposes minimal overhead on my
machine.

In general people who have written worthwhile articles continue to do
so.  Those who have not in the past, tend not to in the future.

So, I sort by poster into three categories: the A-list, the maybe-read
list, and the killfile.  My A-list has about 35 names and the
resulting messages are, in my opinion, almost entirely signal.  I use
the maybe-read list to find people who should be on the A-list.  The
kill file I don't read.

If people post on things that don't interest me, I killfile them.  If
they bore me, I killfile them.  If they are rude, I killfile them. If
they use obscenities I am likely to killfile them.  If they make naive
statements, I killfile them.  If they whine too much, I killfile them.

I now have a cypherpunks list which is worth reading.

I was surprised that so many core cypherpunks allowed Dmitri Vulis to
upset them so much.  That was obviously his intention.  Is it really
so shocking to learn that somewhere out in the world there is one
loser?  Follow Tim May's fine example - killfile him and forget him.

Killfiles are easy to set up.  You don't need to write a line of code.
I use the filters in Eudora.  Eudora is available for Macs and PCs.
If you are using a Unix box, procmail will do the trick.  If you don't
know much about these tools, you probably know somebody who does.  If
you don't, you can probably find people on the cypherpunks list who
will be more than happy to help you.  I will be happy to help you.

It is wonderful that John Gilmore and Hugh Daniels have done so much
to keep this list running.  John can do anything he wants with his
machines and with this list.  But, I was disappointed to see him
remove somebody from it.  Why?  I prefer to choose for myself who to
killfile and who not to.  Unfortunately, beggars can't be choosers.

Peter Hendrickson
ph@netcom.com