wilber@alice.att.com (Bob Wilber) (11/22/90)
Andy Fyfe writes: >While I'm here, I'll give my views on the great newsgroup name change. I >suggested in another posting that the group should be comp.sys.att.3b1. >My reasoning is the following: the existence of equivalent machines (from >Motorola, etc.) notwithstanding, the purpose of the newsgroup is primarily >to support a particular AT&T machine. This is reflected, if nowhere else, >in the choice of "3b1" -- an AT&T designation -- to be used in the >newsgroup name. It seems strange to me to argue that the best name for >the group is "3b1" while arguing that it is not appropriate to make the >newsgroup a subgroup of comp.sys.att. If there's a real concern that, >say, Convergent machines will be left out if the newgroup is a subgroup of >comp.sys.att, then maybe the name of choice should be comp.sys.safari. Not only is comp.sys.3b1 four fewer letters to type than comp.sys.att.3b1, but I note that Mac hackers have comp.sys.mac, not comp.sys.apple.mac; Amiga amigos have comp.sys.amiga, not comp.sys.commodore.amiga. Also, comp.sys.att is a "leaf" node (i.e., one where articles appear) and while netnews does allow leaf nodes to also have subnodes, that can cause administrative hassles. Some people will want to get comp.sys.att but not comp.sys.3b1, and vice versa. They cover disjoint topics. (Or will, when the need for cross posting ends.) Bob Wilber
andy@cs.caltech.edu (Andy Fyfe) (11/22/90)
In article <11661@alice.att.com> wilber@homxb.att.com writes: >Not only is comp.sys.3b1 four fewer letters to type than comp.sys.att.3b1, but >I note that Mac hackers have comp.sys.mac, not comp.sys.apple.mac; Amiga amigos >have comp.sys.amiga, not comp.sys.commodore.amiga. Also, comp.sys.att is a >"leaf" node (i.e., one where articles appear) and while netnews does allow >leaf nodes to also have subnodes, that can cause administrative hassles. >Some people will want to get comp.sys.att but not comp.sys.3b1, and vice >versa. They cover disjoint topics. (Or will, when the need for cross posting >ends.) I'll agree that there are deviations from a strict hierarchy. But the concept of subgroups of "leaf" nodes is hardly uncommon. Fairly recently the TeX people wanted their own newsgroup separate from comp.text -- there is now comp.text.tex (and comp.text.sgml and comp.text.desktop). There's comp.lang.lisp, comp.lang.lisp.franz and comp.lang.lisp.x. Comp.periphs and comp.periphs.scsi. Comp.sys.dec and comp.sys.dec.micro. Comp.theory and comp.theory.*. Comp.windows.x and comp.windows.x.motif. The 3b1 is not a broad class of machines the way the Macintosh line is. The current newsgroup in the comp hierarchy to support the 3b1 is comp.sys.att. I haven't seen a convincing argument for not making the group comp.sys.att.3b1. That doesn't mean there isn't one, of course, and there's no requirement to convince me one way or the other either. Andy Fyfe andy@cs.caltech.edu
bruce@balilly.UUCP (Bruce Lilly) (11/23/90)
In article <1990Nov22.004307.4186@nntp-server.caltech.edu> andy@cs.caltech.edu (Andy Fyfe) writes: >In article <11661@alice.att.com> wilber@homxb.att.com writes: >>Not only is comp.sys.3b1 four fewer letters to type than comp.sys.att.3b1, but >>[ ... ] > >I'll agree that there are deviations from a strict hierarchy. But the >concept of subgroups of "leaf" nodes is hardly uncommon. Fairly recently >the TeX people wanted their own newsgroup separate from comp.text -- there >is now comp.text.tex (and comp.text.sgml and comp.text.desktop). There's >[ ... ] Not to mention comp.unix and comp.unix.*... >The 3b1 is not a broad class of machines the way the Macintosh line is. The >current newsgroup in the comp hierarchy to support the 3b1 is comp.sys.att. I >haven't seen a convincing argument for not making the group comp.sys.att.3b1. >That doesn't mean there isn't one, of course, and there's no requirement to >convince me one way or the other either. I'd have to agree with Andy. Regarding some comments about the ``difficulty'' of getting a feed of only comp.sys.att.3b1, it's trivially easy under either B news or C news. A sys file line in the feed site's file specifying only the desired group(s) is all that's required. Those who are insecure or paranoid can specifically exclude any other group(s). -- Bruce Lilly blilly!balilly!bruce@sonyd1.Broadcast.Sony.COM