mark (04/22/83)
Well, in the past couple of weeks, net.general has become a total hodgepodge that it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to read. The entire continent of Europe has turned it off, and I've gotten complaints from Americans as well. This has to stop. I've been reading about derivations of English words (which belongs in net.nlang), on the origin of the word "UNIX" (looks like it's time for Jerry to post netiquette again, with an addition), commercial use of the network (net.news or net.mail), cat names (net.pets), seminar announcements for Rutgers (good grief), pocketknife uses, whether Ga. Tech is on the net, and other mindless drivel. (There have even been a few people using it in accordance with the announced policy - queries and announcements). I also see followups getting put in net.general. I think it's time we did something. We already have a separate newsgroup for queries (net.wanted), and it's hard to put a finger on the difference - net.wanted seems to be for things that aren't as important as net.general. Perhaps it's time to kill off net.general and create net.announcements (anybody have a shorter name that reads as well?) Perhaps it's also time to put some controls on the announcement newsgroup - e.g. put a moderator on it. What do you think? Followup to net.news.group only, please! Mark Horton