McQuary limit

	This is the JargonFile ^(V4.47) entry for McQuary limit - Next: meatspace, Prev: maximum Maytag mode
:McQuary limit: [from the name of the founder of alt.fan.warlord; see warlording.] 4 lines of at most 80 characters each, sometimes still cited on Usenet as the maximum acceptable size of a sig block. Before the great bandwidth explosion of the early 1990s, long sigs actually cost people running Usenet servers significant amounts of money. Nowadays social pressure against long sigs is intended to avoid waste of human attention rather than machine bandwidth. Accordingly, the McQuary limit should be considered a rule of thumb rather than a hard limit; its best to avoid sigs that are large, repetitive, and distracting. See also warlording.
* (text is auto-included via JargonExtension by mutante using JargonFile VERSION 4.4.7, 29 DEC 2003 - JargonFile by Eric S. Raymond is in the public domain)