ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS Policy on Appropriate Use To: All Users of CIS Labs From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Committee Date: February 1988 Subject: Policy on Appropriate Use of Computers and Computer Files Your CIS computer lab account is meant to be used by you for your class work and should be used for other activity only with a generous dose of common sense and consideration for others. As a general guideline for deciding what use of computers and computer files is appropriate, the Computer and Information Science Department (at a faculty meeting on May 14, 1984) adopted the following policy for uses of computers by faculty, staff, and students: It is recognized that computer files are a new form of property separable from the media with which they are recorded, and that close analogies can be found between the uses of computer files and of various other forms of physical property. The Department shall use these analogies in making decisions about the appropriate use of computer files and the protection of their privacy, extending as nearly as possible exactly the same protection to computer files as is traditionally extended to the analogous physical property. The spirit of this policy is that the file space provided by the University to individuals has exactly the same status as analogous, more tangible facilities also provided by the University. Such facilities as private library carrels, dormitory rooms, and gym lockers are technically owned by OSU, and may be entered only for ''administrative'' purposes such as building maintenance. Similarly, the computers and computer files of students, staff, and faculty members, being electronic extensions of their personal work areas, may not be inspected, copied, changed, or otherwise tampered with without the permission of the owner, except for purposes relevant to the administration of the computer system. Notice that copying (i.e., stealing or ''pirating'') computer software is also prohibited under this policy. The statement above is concerned primarily with privacy protection, but also applies to ''appropriate use'' in a broader context. For example, if you want to experiment with software not directly related to your CIS class work, or occasionally play a computer game provided on the system, feel free to do so --- but please be considerate of others and do not occupy a workstation with activity unrelated to your CIS class work during peak periods of lab usage. Also, please think about the monetary costs of your use.} Even though it literally costs nothing when you consume ''cycles'' on an otherwise idle workstation during off-peak hours, you should not print things unrelated to your class work, because this costs real money. If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect you, please contact me. ------ ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS Policy on UNIX Mail Usage To: All Users of CIS Labs From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Committee Date: February 1988 Subject: Policy on UNIX Mail Usage All users of the Computer and Information Science Department labs are encouraged to use electronic mail and electronic bulletin boards as a source of information and for better communication. This use is subject to the following policy effective immediately: All UNIX users are expected to learn to use electronic mail and bulletin boards/newsgroups to facilitate internal communication (see short subject document #42 and #16 on ''Mail'' and ''News'' available in HI 308). All messages sent anywhere by anyone must be ''appropriate'' (see short subject document #43 on ''Standards and Customs''). However, unless explicit written permission has been granted by the CIS Computer Committee, only faculty, staff, and CIS graduate students are permitted to send electronic mail or post electronic bulletin board messages to non-OSU computers. The objectives of this policy are obvious. First, on-campus electronic communication is a very effective way of contacting people who may not be immediately available, without playing ''telephone tag'' or wasting a lot of time. It is also used by instructors to disseminate information to and receive feedback from their students in a timely fashion, and it is therefore crucial that everyone be able to use it. However, off-campus electronic communication costs real money and is made available for a more specific purpose: to facilitate faculty, staff, and graduate student collaboration on research work with others outside OSU. Only in special circumstances should undergraduate students need to use this off-campus service. If you feel you are special in this regard please see me. Second, while we have no desire to try to censor electronic messages, we do have a specific obligation to the organizations that operate our computer networks to make sure the house rules of etiquette are observed by the people connected to them through our computer systems. Without exception, these rules prohibit obscene language, personal attacks, attempts to send anonymous messages, and a variety of other unsociable acts. If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect you, please contact me. ------ ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS Policy on UNIX Disk Usage To: All Users of CIS Labs From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Committee Date: February 1988 Subject: Policy on UNIX Disk Usage The Computer and Information Science Department labs, like most computer systems, face a chronic shortage of disk space. In order to help avert potential problems in this area, we have adopted the following policy effective immediately: Each UNIX user is assigned to one of the following general categories and has a corresponding personal directory disk quota: guest or undergraduate student (1.0MB), graduate student (1.5MB), staff (2.5MB), or faculty (2.5MB). A user who needs additional space may request an increase in the quota by filling out a ''UNIX Disk Space Request'' form available in the document rack in the 2nd floor hallway in CA. A requested increase of 50% from the default personal quota (with reasonable cause and a faculty member's signature) will be granted by the operator without further review. Any larger increase must be approved by the CIS Computer Committee. Special project or group directories may be created under the control of a faculty or staff member and may receive significantly larger disk allocations with approval of the CIS Computer Committee. At present, disk quotas are not ''enforced'' by the system (e.g., in the sense that you cannot continue to work once you exceed your quota). We plan to rely on the reasonableness of the user community until and unless that proves unwise. However, periodically an automatic audit of disk space usage will be made and users who are over quota will be notified by electronic mail. If you receive such a notice you are expected to remove files, archive them to tape, or move them to an appropriate project directory so your usage falls below your quota (see short subject document #41 on ''How to Save Disk Space'' available from the operator in HI 308). If these steps are not effective, you may request a larger quota as noted above. If the next audit (which will be conducted about 3 weeks later, or sooner if disk space shortages are noted) shows you are still over quota, you will again receive electronic mail. This time, a copy will also go to the chair of the CIS Computer Committee and the Manager of CIS Computer Activities, and you will be contacted to determine why you have not complied with the request to keep disk usage in line. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in loss of your privileges to use the facilities until your failure to comply is adequately explained. If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect you, please contact me. ------------------------------ ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS Policy on UNIX Printer Usage To: All Users of CIS Labs From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Commitee Date: February 1988 Subject: Policy on UNIX Printer Usage Computer and Information Science at this time does not charge lab fees, but absorbs the cost of consumable (such as printer output) from its operating budget. We have therefore adopted the following policy effective immediately: Each user is permitted to make appropriate use of the printers for his/her own work. It is recognized that legitimate printing needs will vary widely among users. However, all users are expected to observe the following guidelines (see also short subject document #20 on ''Reducing Your Laser Printer Use'' available in HI 308): Always display potential printer output on the screen before printing it (e.g., by using ''xmore''). Always check the length of a file before printing it so you are not surprised by the amount of paper used (e.g., by using ''ls -l''). If the above fails, and you must print a test run of a long file just to see what the output will really look like on paper, first print a small part of the beginning of the file (e.g., by using ''head'' to strip off just the first several lines, perhaps a page or two, and printing that part only). Never print directly form your program; always write the output to a file first so you can apply the above options. Obey the standards of printer etiquette at all times (e.g., do not print large jobs during peak hours; make sure you take only your own printouts; keep the printer area neat and clean; and so on ). At present, there are no printer quotas. We plan to rely on the reasonableness of the user community until and unless that proves unwise. However, periodically an automatic audit of printer usage will be made and users who are among the top 10% of all printer users for the audit period will be notified by electronic mail. If you receive such a notice you are expected to examine your methods of printing and make a serious effort to reduce your printing activity. If the next audit (which will be conducted about 3 weeks later) shows you are still in the top 10% of all printer users, you will again receive electronic mail. This time, a copy will also go the chair of the CIS Computer Committee and the Manager of CIS Computer Activities, and you will be contacted to determine why you are printing so much more than a typical user. If your usage is deemed unreasonable by the Computer Committee, your printer access may be limited. If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect you, please contact me.