How to flame uploaders

Introduction

Whenever you delete or rename an upload and the accompanying readme contains a proper email address in the uploader: field, you'll get asked if you want to "flame" the uploader.

Additionally, you can flame an uploader at any given time by invoking the [f]lame option in admin.pl's menues (as long as there's a proper email address in the readme). This is handy if you fixed things in the readme (wrong architecture, wrong directory, no english Short: description, wrong formatting etc.).

A third way to flame an uploader is by invoking flame from the shell. You can do this if you forget to flame the uploader while moderating his upload or if you moved or modified an archive that already was on Aminet. Invoking flame from shell works like this:

flame

e.g.

flame c.gutjahr at gmx.de OpenOffice.zip

would send an email to c.gutjahr at gmx.de, using the subject "Your upload to Aminet: OpenOffice.zip".

The options

Once flame has been invoked, you're presented with a list of options. This list only comes up if the script does not know why you want to flame the uploader (e.g.: If admin.pl detects a corrupt archive and you tell it to delete it and flame the uploader, it's completely obvious which message needs to be sent to the uploader, so you won't be asked at all).

Here are the options:

   1) archive corrupt
   2) questionable legal status
   3) missing/corrupt readme, deleted
   4) missing/corrupt readme, fixed
   5) not a readme for every file, fixed
   6) file name too long, fixed
   7) .readme name not same as archive, fixed
   8) .dms instead of .lha, deleted
   9) .dms instead of .lha, repacked
  10) copyrighted music/samples
  11) .lzx, deleted
  12) .zip, deleted
  13) illegal chars, renamed
  14) file already exists, upload deleted
  15) description not English, deleted
  16) bad description, deleted
  17) virus infected, deleted
  18) uploaded too often, deleted
  19) uppercase, changed
  20) different dir
  21) missing or wrong architecture header, fixed
  22) not allowed format
  23) no uploader email specified, fixed

  99) other reason

You simply enter the number of the message you want to send to the uploader and flame will send an email containing a predefined message. A list of all those messages can be found below.

If you changed your mind about flaming the uploader, simply press Enter (i.e. do not enter a number) or Control-C to abort the flaming process.

Option 99 ("other reason") is different from the others: You do not send a predefined message, but you can enter your own message. This is handy if you had to fix more than one thing or came across something that is not covered by any of the predefined messages.

After invoking option 99, a text editor comes up. Here you can enter whatever you want to tell the uploader. Once your finished, hit Control-O ("write out", i.e. "save") and then Control-X to exit. Below the text you entered, an empty line followed by this text block will be appended:

Please read the following instructions before uploading files to Aminet:

http://aminet.net/help.php#Uploading

This mail is generated automatically. No need to reply unless you have further questions.

Kind regards, The Aminet team

Then the mail will be sent to the specified email address.

The messages

This is the list of predefined messages available when flaming uploaders.

A mail to an uploader will always be sent from aminet at aminet.net and use "Your upload to Aminet: " as the subject.

All mails look like this:

Thank you for uploading to Aminet, but there was a problem with your upload:

Please read the following instructions before uploading files to Aminet:

http://aminet.net/help.php#Uploading

This mail is generated automatically. No need to reply unless you have further questions.

Kind regards, The Aminet team

Here are the predefined messages:

1) archive corrupt

At least one of the archive(s) was corrupt. Please check your local copy and reupload, not forgetting to set 'binary' mode in FTP. If you don't know which file we're referring to, wait for your other uploads to appear in RECENT.

2) questionable legal status

Your upload has questionable legal status and was therefore deleted. It is e.g. illegal to distribute parts of AmigaOS through the net. Please remove all copyrighted files and reupload. Thank you.

3) missing/corrupt readme, deleted

You supplied no .readme file for your upload, or the .readme had the wrong name or format. It was therefore deleted along with your upload. Please write a .readme according to the guidelines below and reupload. We need the .readme files to generate the automatcially created file listings. Thanks.

4) missing/corrupt readme, fixed

The .readme file(s) you supplied didn't have a Short: keyword or wasn't quite correct in another way. We have corrected the error for now. If you don't know what was wrong look at the corrected version.

5) not a readme for every file, fixed

You didn't supply a .readme file for every file uploaded. We have corrected the error for now.

6) file name too long, fixed

At least one of the files you uploaded had a file name that was too long. We allow 30 chars for the entire archive name. We have fixed it for now, but please keep this in mind."

7) .readme name not same as archive, fixed

The name of your .readme file was not exactly the same as your archive's. Next time make sure they are the same and only differ by their suffix, note that capitalization matters. We have fixed the problem this time.

8) .dms instead of .lha, deleted

Your upload was in .dms format. We no longer accept DMS files for many good reasons, please read docs/misc/dms-sucks.txt for more info. Your upload was deleted, please upload as .lha if possible.

9) .dms instead of .lha, repacked

Your upload was in .dms format. We only accept .dms files for disks that use track loaders. We repacked your upload as .lha file, please use that format next time, and don't include any files from the Commodore Workbench. Thanks.

10) copyrighted music/samples

You uploaded a copyrighted piece of music or imagery. Note that cover versions of copyrighted songs are not allowed. Your upload has been deleted, please inform us if this was a mistake.

11) .lzx, deleted

Your upload uses .lzx format. We can't virus check .lzx files and therefore require .lha. Your Upload has been deleted.

12) .zip, deleted

Your upload was in .zip format. This format is not popular on the Amiga so we don't accept it, please use .lha instead. Your upload has been deleted.

13) illegal chars, renamed

Your upload contained illegal special characters. Renamed, please use a better name next time.

14) file already exists, upload deleted

The file you have uploaded was deleted, because a package with the same name does already exist on Aminet. Either your upload is not a proper replacement for the existing package (i.e. the existing package is a completely different program, or from a different author), or your upload seems to be exactly the same as the existing package (we use diff to compare the packages). If neither is the case, please reupload and specify the reason for replacing the existing package in your readme.

15) description not English, deleted

The description of your program was not English. But it has to be so everyone can understand it. If your upload required a language other than English, be sure to mention that language in the Short: description. Example: Short: Multi format image viewer (German). Please upload again with the new description.

16) bad description, deleted

The Short: description you gave was not clear enough, or there was too much boasting (e.g. uppercase only). Please use it to describe what your software is or is used for. We have deleted your upload, please reupload with new description.

17) virus infected, deleted

Your upload was virus infected. We suggest that you download a current virus killer (e.g. Virus Workshop) as soon as possible and check your system for virus infection. Please reupload the software after you are sure that your system is clean again.

18) uploaded too often, deleted

Your package was uploaded to often. Please don't update more often than once per week (unless you made some severe mistake with the previous upload of course). Your upload has been deleted, try again in a few days.

19) uppercase, changed

Your file name was all upper case. Corrected. You can use command line FTP commands to rename files while uploading.

20) different dir

There was no Type: field in your upload, or the Type: field didn't indicate an Aminet directory, or we chose a different directory. Please check the list of recent uploads to find out what directory we have picked and indicate it in the Type: field of future uploads.

21) missing or wrong architecture header, fixed

There was no Architecture: field in your upload, or the Architecture: field was incorrect. We have fixed the problem this time, please make sure you specify a proper Architecture: field in your future uploads. If you don't know what was wrong look at the corrected version.

22) not allowed format

The format uploaded isn't supported.

23) no uploader email specified, fixed

Please specify a proper, machine readable email address at the Uploader: field. It will get obfuscated by our scripts later on, so you don't have to worry about SPAM.

We fixed the problem and your upload has been accepted, but please keep this in mind for future uploads.