michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) (04/20/86)
A rumor has been put out that certain so called "powers-that-be" in the backbone-sites are deciding the fate of certain non-technical newsgroups, either to eliminate them, or to give them a second class status. The discussion is taking place without the general knowledge of the USENET community. It is being done in an attempt to reduce the ever increasing costs of USENET, particularly to these backbone-sites. I support efforts at reducing USENET phone costs, however I do not support the elimination of non-technical newsgroups for two reasons. First, a minor reason, elimination of newsgroups will have the effect of increasing discussion of extraneous matters within technical newsgroups. Second, the major reason: USENET, as it now exists, is a greater concept than many of us would seem to know. Because of its open-endedness; its free exchange of ideas; and its availability to anyone with a modest amount of money (specifically through groups like Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link which provides general public access to USENET for a fee); USENET has the features of an electronic university. Indeed, in some sense, USENET is more like a university than many institutions which go by that name, because unlike many of those institutions, it can be accessible at a modest fee to the individual and it does not tend to suppress individuals from thinking for themselves (I refer here to the rote method which still dominates many of today's classrooms). In consideration of the virtues of the current state of USENET, I urge the powers-that-be at the backbone-sites to exhaust all possible avenues for cost cutting before further newsgroup eliminations are implemented. ..arizona!___\ michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu ..decwrl!_____!ucbvax!ucbiris!michael ..ihnp4!_____/ ..sun!______/ michael%ucbiris@berkeley.arpa
joel@gould9.UUCP (Joel West) (04/24/86)
In article <588@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) writes: > A rumor has been put out that certain so called "powers-that-be" in the > backbone-sites are deciding the fate of certain non-technical > newsgroups, either to eliminate them, or to give them a second class > status. > First, a minor reason, elimination of newsgroups will have the effect > of increasing discussion of extraneous matters within technical > newsgroups. I think relegating them to 'second class status' is a good idea. It saves costs without eliminating them. I assume that means transferring them only over "free" lines or between sites who really want them. But, I agree, eliminating them entirely will put noise on other reasonable groups. If anyone has noticed the Muslim vs. Judaism wars that can break out on any news group (net.jobs comes to mind) at any time, you know what I mean. We should provide a forum for people to discuss these things, or they will use the technical groups for it instead. (I know, the "powers-that-be" want moderation, but I doubt we'll get enough volunteer editors...) -- Joel West (619) 457-9681 CACI, Inc. Federal, 3344 N. Torrey Pines Ct., La Jolla, CA 92037 {cbosgd, ihnp4, sdcsvax, ucla-cs} !gould9!joel {seismo!s3sun, hplabs!hp-sdd, sun!pyramid} !gould9!joel joel%gould9.uucp@NOSC.ARPA