hbo@hub.ucsb.edu (Howard Owen) (04/27/88)
I recently had the following exchange of messages with the administrator of my newsfeed. I wonder if anyone else is having difficulty receiving comp.sys.amiga.tech? His reply (+) follows my question (++). ++ The comp.sys.amiga group on usenet recently spawned a .tech ++ child. I was happily reading this new group, congratulating ++ myself that the news administrator at my site was so on top of ++ new developments on the net that he was carrying .tech well ++ before the group had official status. I felt even better when ++ the net.gods spoke, and comp.sys.amiga.tech was invested as an ++ official usenet news group. The cross posting to comp.sys.amiga ++ dropped off considerably, and reading .tech became really ++ worthwhile. Imagine my horror when one evening rn greeted me ++ with "bogus newsgroup comp.sys.amiga.tech" and then proceeded to ++ check out my .newsrc file for 10 minutes, (grr) I was shocked! ++ So my question, Mr. usenet administrator person, is this: can we ++ resurrect comp.sys.amiga.tech? I'm desperate to keep up with the ++ developing standards for Amiga interprocess communication, the ++ details of the Fast File System and OS 1.3 and the endless flames ++ about "keeping this fluff out of .tech!" Thanks a bunch, +On 20 April an rmgroup control message was sent out across the +usenet which automatically removed the "comp.sys.amiga.tech" +group from all sites. These are common messages which come +through every week or so telling our news system to clean up its +act -- they originate at the mythical "backbone" sites which have +been exerting pressure on the usenet in recent months. + +In any case, the newsgroup is gone and we have not the power to +resurrect it. + +Sorry, +Tom -- Howard Owen, Computer Systems Manager PHYSNET/HEPNET/SPAN: SBPHY::HBO Physics Computer Services internet: hbo@sbphy.ucsb.edu University of California, Santa Barbara bitnet: HBO@SBITP.BITNET PLink: HBO "I am not a pay TV service!" BBS: "The Quirk" 805-967-9357
chas@gtss.UUCP (Charles Cleveland) (04/27/88)
In article <571@hub.ucsb.edu> hbo@sbphy.ucsb.edu (Howard Owen) writes:
)
) I recently had the following exchange of messages with the administrator
)of my newsfeed. I wonder if anyone else is having difficulty receiving
)comp.sys.amiga.tech? His reply (+) follows my question (++).
)
)++ The comp.sys.amiga group on usenet recently spawned a .tech
)++ child. I was happily reading this new group, congratulating
)
)+On 20 April an rmgroup control message was sent out across the
)+usenet which automatically removed the "comp.sys.amiga.tech"
)+group from all sites. These are common messages which come
Well, I see messages like this cross my 'desk' with considerable frequency
in my capacity as sysadmin. Over the course of time I have learned that
1) There is a good reason why the net's news software provides for
a human to intercede between all posted rmgroup messages and their
execution, if the person installing news has the wits to implement
that provision.
2) A sysadmin should never remove a group upon first receiving a rmgroup
message until at least one week has past without a countermanding
message from above saying something like 'oops...a checkgroups message
we got didn't inadvertently didn't include the xx.yy groups which we
carry so they were all marked as invalid'. After all the entire
directory gets purged.
3) It generally does very little harm to carry groups even if they are
unofficial, since the unofficial groups offer little in the way of
traffic and expense. (I generally ignore rmgroup messages simply
predicated upon the groups' 'unauthorized' status. If nobody carries
it I don't get it and it doesn't cost me anything; if I get a lot
of traffic on it, I should carry it whether it is 'official' or not.)
Furthermore, I live on the very flank of the backbone and have
observed before that even the backbone, or at least part of it,
carries at least some groups that are officially 'unauthorized'.
I received comp.sys.amiga.tech continuously from the first 'bogus'
posting creating it in spite of the fact that nothing reaches me
without traversing at least part of the backbone. Now that it is
official I have less concern about missing something, nonetheless.
4) Being a sysadmin requires more than mechanically responding to every
rmgroup message that comes down the pike. Some thought may be
required. And more may be required as an answer to a query such as
yours ('where did my official newsgroup go?') than the bland response
you got. Make no mistake. Each sysadmin can decide which newsgroups
he carries and he is not at mercy of official rmgroup postings from the
so-called backbone unless his neighbors all decide to drop the group
as a consequence ... in which case any action of his is superfluous
anyway.
And for all the good it will do you, you can quote me.
--
-Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code.-
Charles Cleveland Georgia Tech School of Physics Atlanta, GA 30332
UUCP: ...!gatech!gtss!chas INTERNET: chas@ss.physics.gatech.edugsarff@ssdis.UUCP (gary sarff) (04/29/88)
In article <571@hub.ucsb.edu>, hbo@hub.ucsb.edu (Howard Owen) writes: > > I recently had the following exchange of messages with the administrator > of my newsfeed. I wonder if anyone else is having difficulty receiving > comp.sys.amiga.tech? His reply (+) follows my question (++). > > > +On 20 April an rmgroup control message was sent out across the > +usenet which automatically removed the "comp.sys.amiga.tech" > +group from all sites. These are common messages which come > +through every week or so telling our news system to clean up its > +act -- they originate at the mythical "backbone" sites which have > +been exerting pressure on the usenet in recent months. > + > +In any case, the newsgroup is gone and we have not the power to > +resurrect it. > + > +Sorry, > +Tom That is strange. I am very near a backbone, only 1 jump from it and I still have comp.sys.amiga.tech and so does the system that I poll that has a direct link. Maybe this Tom owns an Atari or is a Messy Dos'er? Anyway, my logs don't show getting such an rmgroup message, maybe it was only on your branch of the net, somewhere upstream someone turned off the faucet. 8-) I need these blank lines cause my stupid postnews won't let me respond with a message shorter than the one I'm responding too. sheesh. We all have our Usenet problems. -- Gary Sarff {uunet|ihnp4|philabs}!spies!ssdis!gsarff To program is human, to debug is something best left to the gods. "Spitbol?? You program in a language called Spitbol?" The reason computer chips are so small is that computers don't eat much.
yuan@uhccux.UUCP (Yuan Chang) (04/30/88)
In article <246@gtss.UUCP= chas@gtss.UUCP (Charles Cleveland) writes: =In article <571@hub.ucsb.edu> hbo@sbphy.ucsb.edu (Howard Owen) writes: =) =) I recently had the following exchange of messages with the administrator =)of my newsfeed. I wonder if anyone else is having difficulty receiving =)comp.sys.amiga.tech? = =Well, I see messages like this cross my 'desk' with considerable frequency =in my capacity as sysadmin. Over the course of time I have learned that = [ Several DOs and DON'Ts as sysadm given ] Well, too bad our sysadm just purged amiga.tech upon first receiving the rmgroup message. I had contested the removal, but nothing came of it... All the great articles I'm missing. *Sigh* -- Yuan Chang "What can go wrong, did" UUCP: {ihnp4,uunet,ucbvax,dcdwest}!ucsd!nosc!uhccux!yuan ARPA: uhccux!yuan@nosc.MIL "Wouldn't you like to INTERNET: yuan@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU be an _A_m_i_g_o_i_d too?!?"
doug-merritt@cup.portal.com (05/03/88)
There's an easy cure for administrators who automatically allow
rmgroup messages to take effect (especially when the rmgroup mesg
was bogus): ask somebody to send out a create group message again.
The administrator will again let *that* take effect.
&$^
Doug Merritt ucbvax!sun.com!cup.portal.com!doug-merritt
or ucbvax!eris!doug (doug@eris.berkeley.edu)
or ucbvax!unisoft!certes!doug