davidson@sdcsvax.UUCP (Greg Davidson) (10/20/85)
(If you read net.internat and are not in Europe, please send me a note; I'll do a census and inform the net - so PLEASE, EVERYBODY, RESPOND!) I was shocked to read in net.internat that it was to be closed to US readership without a discussion in the group because (1) most of the submitted articles originate in Europe and (2) it's creation did not follow the proper creation rules. I think that this is an important group, and should by its subject matter receive a worldwide distribution. First, net.internat is not just an European group, as the recent vigorous discussion of how to accommodate Chinese characters exhibits. I have also noticed many postings by US authors (though its the readers' locations that count), so they should not be ignored, even if outnumbered. I have been reading it, and I'm sure many other people outside of Europe have been also. As for the business of closing groups that are not properly formed, net.internat followed a mandate from the last EUUG conference in Copenhagen. Need I remind US readers that the EUUG is the sister organization to Usenix in the States? This is hardly a thoughtless, irresponsible basis from which to create a newsgroup. If we could afford the time to debate newsgroup creations at UNIX conferences, it would be very nice - preferable to using net.news.group. The creator of net.internat was not familiar with the protocol for approving newsgroups with US distribution, but this is understandable since he is not from the States. I'm sure the smaller European USENET community have their own protocol for these things, or will soon - it would behoove us to be more tolerant of this kind of error. Please allow net.internat to continue while we have a chance to ask how many people are reading it. If the name is objectionable, that can be easily remedied. _Greg Davidson decvax!sdcsvax!davidson ucbvax!sdcsvax!davidson davidson@ucsd.arpa P.S. If you read net.internat & are not in Europe, don't forget to send me a note!
garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson) (10/21/85)
> I was shocked to read in net.internat that it was to be closed to US > readership without a discussion in the group because (1) most of the > submitted articles originate in Europe and (2) it's creation did not > follow the proper creation rules. I think that this is an important > group, and should by its subject matter receive a worldwide distribution. I agree. If the U.S. is excluded, it will be like a preacher whose Sunday morning sermons are on the importance of church attendance; those who most need to hear the message aren't there to hear it! I have worked for two different U.S. companies which supposedly produce international products; both companies essentially developed two distinct product lines, one for the domestic (i.e., U.S.) market, and one for the international (mostly European) market. This happened because most American developers make Anglo-centric (if that's not a word, I just coined it) assumptions, without even realizing it. Gary Samuelson ittatc!bunker!garys