REPLY TO 09/21/94 09:10 FROM [log in to unmask] "Museum discussion list":
What is spamming?
 
Erin McIntire and a number of other people have asked about the
meaning of the word "spam".  "Spam" on *this* group seems to have
been used to mean simply an unwanted or irrelevant posting
(particularly a self-serving one).  In the wider net community
though, spam refers to a type of malicious mischief often
directed at the perpetrators of irrelevant, self-serving postings
(like the lawyer who sent an ad to nearly every list on god's green
internet). (btw, imho, announcements of courses, workshops,
conferences related to the subject of a listserv aren't spamming:
they're what--among other things--a listserv's for.)
 
 
>From "Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC)"
 
        A glossary of programming languages, architectures, networks,
        domain theory, mathematics, in fact anything to do with
        computing.
 
        Copyright (c) Denis Howe 1993.
 
spam
     [from the {MUD} community] vt.  1.  To crash a program by
     overrunning a fixed-size buffer with excessively large input
     data.  See also {buffer overflow}, {overrun screw}, {smash the
     stack}.  2.  To cause a newsgroup to be flooded with irrelevant
     or inappropriate messages.  You can spam a newsgroup with as
     little as one well- (or ill-) planned message (e.g.  asking
     "What do you think of abortion?" on soc.women).  This is often
     done with {cross-post}ing (e.g.  any message which is
     crossposted to alt.rush-limbaugh and alt.politics.homosexuality
     will almost inevitably spam both groups).
 
Richard Kohn
Research Libraries Group
 
 
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