TOS

The TOS for TechDug: what you can expect from the site, and what the site expects from you. By using TechDug you agree to it. It is kept short enough to actually read.

Parties and terms used

• TechDug, we, us: the team that operates this site.
• You: every user of the site, whether you read, comment or write here as an author.
• Content: anything published on the site, such as posts, code samples, images, profiles and comments.

If you read

No account and no fee. Read posts, link to them, and quote short passages with credit to the author, as is normal practice online. Republishing an entire post somewhere else needs the author’s permission. Some code samples carry their own licence; where one is stated, it applies.

If you comment

A name is all you need. Every comment is reviewed, and the decision to publish it is ours. You answer for what you write and must have the right to share anything you include.

If you write

Author access is granted by invitation; nobody can register on their own. An invitation entitles you to run a blog here under this TOS. Keep your sign-in details to yourself, and tell us through the contact page if you suspect someone else has used your account.

Everything on your blog is your responsibility, including holding the rights to the text, code and images you upload and following the acceptable use rules.

Licence you grant

Ownership stays with the author. Publishing on TechDug gives us permission to host, store, display and distribute the content as part of running the service: on your blog, on topic pages, in RSS feeds. The permission exists only so the site can function, and it lapses when the content is removed. Copies that have already left the site, such as entries already delivered to a reader’s feed app, are outside our reach.

You may ask, via the contact page, for one post or your entire blog to be taken down, whenever you choose.

Acceptable use

The acceptable use page is incorporated into this TOS. Summary: nothing illegal, deceptive or harmful; no malware or phishing; no harassment; no impersonation; no copying other people’s work.

Abuse of the service

Do not attempt to break the site, overload it or bypass its protections. That covers flooding the comment or contact forms, probing for vulnerabilities, and scraping hard enough to slow the site for other people. Normal RSS polling and search engine crawling are expected and fine.

Moderation

We can remove content, or refuse to publish it, when it violates this TOS or the acceptable use rules, or when a valid complaint is made against it. Serious or repeated violations can lead to a blog being closed. We aim to be fair and proportionate, but there is no obligation on us to host any given piece of content.

If your work appears here without your permission, use the contact page, select Copyright claim, and link both your original and the copy.

Running code from posts

Posts are full of code, commands and configuration, written by individual authors and shared so others can learn. Read and understand anything before running it, try it somewhere disposable first, and have backups. Whether to run code from a post is your call, and the consequences are yours.

Outbound links

Posts point to other websites. We do not operate them and take no responsibility for what they contain or whether they stay online.

No warranty

TechDug is supplied “as is” and “as available”. We put real effort into keeping it up and its content intact, but we do not warrant that it will run without interruption or errors, or that it suits any particular purpose. Any feature, or the service as a whole, can be modified, suspended or withdrawn at any point. Back up whatever you would hate to lose.

Limitation of liability

As far as the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for lost data, profit or opportunity, resulting from your use of the site or from content other people publish. Authors answer for their posts and commenters for their comments; hosting something here does not mean we endorse it.

Termination

Readers can stop visiting whenever they like. Authors can request, through the contact page, that their blog be closed, after which its profile and posts come off the site. An invitation can be withdrawn if a blog seriously violates this TOS.

Versioning

This TOS will change as the service does. Each revision moves the “last updated” stamp at the top of the page. Using the site after a revision counts as accepting it.

Support

Questions about this TOS go through the contact page; there is no other route to the team.