frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason) (03/31/89)
This subject has been discussed here before, but .....
COMP.SYS.IBM.PC NEEDS TO BE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL SUBGROUPS !
I think that most readers of this group can agree with me that the traffic
here is a bit too heavy. The question is: Is it possible to find some
isolated topics that should be moved to a subgroop ?
An examination of several hundred articles in this newsgroup gave the
following result:
Requests for software ("Does somebody have .... ")
1.1% - specific programs/drivers/etc.
7.2% - "a program that ...."
0.1% - data
"I need info on..." articles
2.5% - data format
8.4% - hardware
2.8% - software
1.0% - articles/dealers/dev. kits etc.
"Why ABC is better than XYZ" articles
2.7% - editors/compression programs/etc.
"HELP-ME!!" articles
7.3% - Hardware problems
9.2% - Hardware questions
4.8% - MS-DOS
10.6% - Software problems
8.1% - Hardware/software problems - "My XYZ program doesn't work with
my ABC hardware" etc.
"I have a story for you" articles
2.2% - Horror stories ("do not do business with these guys"
0.2% - Recommendations
9.8% Virus -related articles (I hope comp.virus will appear soon).
2.0% Announcements/"CALL-FOR-VOTE"/benchmark results/etc.
"I need recommendations" articles
2.8% - Software
4.3% - Hardware
1.1% Sources
1.4% Legal issues
4.2% Misc. discussion type articles.
the rest is stuff like:
"Are there any other .... users out there"
and
"I have this brand new .... for sale"
So - the most obvious ways to cut down the traffic might be:
1) Start comp.virus (the voting is going on right now - I think)
2) Create a subgroup for program/info. requests, where no follow-ups
would (normally) be posted. In particular this would mean no
"could you please send me a copy .." articles (just Email the
original poster)
3) Keep "For sale" articles out of here. Or at least use a local
distribution.
Of course there are other possibilities - any suggestions ?
--
Fridrik Skulason University of Iceland
UUCP frisk@rhi.uucp BIX frisk
Guvf yvar vagragvbanyyl yrsg oynax .................air@anableps.berkeley.edu (Arthur Ernest Wright) (04/01/89)
What new groups might be formed? 1 .pc.dos I too favor comp.virus I believe the followups are valuable (I've accidentaly learned thing that have come in handy later) I am mixed on where forsale items belong. I feel that misc.forsale is fine for now, but in the future As misc forsale gets larger. I think inndividual comp.sys.*.forsale -These are my opinions and I am aware that they are not universal. 2 pc.software 3 pc.hardware People's Technology | Participating in the war on apathy, ingnorance, and Arthur Ernest Wright| Stagnation, while simultaneusly ___ ___ ___ 1272 Willamette #404| working in the retail computer X@ @X (@ @) (X X) Eugene, Oregon 97401| equiptment nightmare. \o/ \X/ \o/ (503) 344-7969 | air@mica.berkeley.edu Deaf Dumb Blind
jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu (Jim Wright) (04/01/89)
In article <834@krafla.rhi.hi.is> frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason) writes: | This subject has been discussed here before, but ..... | | COMP.SYS.IBM.PC NEEDS TO BE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL SUBGROUPS ! Comp.sys.amiga usually has more articles than comp.sys.ibm.pc, and that doesn't include comp.sys.amiga.tech! I'd be very reluctant to go along with most splits. I'd still probably read them all, and the cross-posting would be terrible. How many articles have you seen along the lines of "I've got a stupid question, but I want you to answer it so I don't have to RTFM. And even though I know the answer appears on the net every month, I don't want to bother reading the group. So make sure you send email." These people will cross post to each and every comp.sys.ibm.pc.* group. | So - the most obvious ways to cut down the traffic might be: | | 1) Start comp.virus (the voting is going on right now - I think) Yes, and going well. (Send votes to me, "YES" or "NO".) | 2) Create a subgroup for program/info. requests, where no follow-ups | would (normally) be posted. In particular this would mean no | "could you please send me a copy .." articles (just Email the | original poster) I have my doubts that a self-regulating PC group would work. :-) | 3) Keep "For sale" articles out of here. Or at least use a local | distribution. I don't mind these too much, if they are kept short and to the point. | Of course there are other possibilities - any suggestions ? Perhaps a split to a "roll your own" group, including software and hardware, and a "using applications" group, again hardware and software. I think any split to more than two groups is doomed. | Fridrik Skulason University of Iceland | UUCP frisk@rhi.uucp BIX frisk -- Jim Wright jwright@atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (Wm. E. Davidsen Jr) (04/04/89)
In article <834@krafla.rhi.hi.is> frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason) writes: | Of course there are other possibilities - any suggestions ? I suggest that any call for discussion of adding, deleting, renaming, or partitioning a newsgroup should go in news.groups, which was created just for that purpose. -- bill davidsen (wedu@crd.GE.COM) {uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me