evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) (12/11/90)
In June, I started a CfD for a number of newsgroups relating to
applications software. This came as an outgrowth of the (unsuccessful)
attempts at starting comp.unix.sco. At that time, the point was aptly
made that the existing hierarchy does not deal well with questions about
word processors, spreadsheets, office automation products such as
Uniplex, or industry-specific verticals.
The original CfD brought up some points which I'll address, but the
whole proposal was put on hold to reduce the noise during the comp.unix
re-organization. With that resolved(almost :-) and new questions arising
about WordPerfect and Usenet, perhaps it's time to bring the issue up
again, for eventual resolution by vote.
What I'm proposing is a new hierarchy, comp.applications.*.
The original proposal, comp.apps, has been denounced as repugnant
by a number of people who don't like abbreviations when full words are
possible. Me, I don't care enough to put up a fight over this issue.
The original proposal also called for no less than eight new groups
under this hierarchy. This time I'll be more modest -- start with
fewer groups, but allow for room to grow if other subjects start
dominating the .misc group.
Here's what I propose this time (all unmoderated):
comp.applications.spreadsheet Spreadsheets
comp.applications.wordpro Word processors (as opposed to text formatters)
comp.applications.vertical Industry-specific (ie, accounting)
comp.applications.office Integrated office automation tools
comp.applications.misc Anything that doesn't fit elsewhere
An issue was raised in the original discussion that the hierarchy
should be comp.unix.applications instead of comp.applications. My
objection to this is twofold;
- There is enough crossover of applications across platforms that it
seems more reasonable to separate applications by purpose rather than by
environment;
- There hasn't been enough traffic in this field yet to justify multiple
comp.[os].application.* hierarchies, which would certainly follow this
precedent.
I know I can't please everyone. But if there appears to be consensus
that this is a good idea, I'll eventually turn this into a Call for Votes.
Comments, private or public, are welcome.
--
Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
Keep an open mind -- you'll never know what might fall in.