geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) (02/24/90)
Here is a first draft of a welcome message which would be posted
regularly to comp.sys.mac. Its purpose is to help folks understand the
various Macintosh-related Usenet groups, and (hopefully) reduce some of
the misplaced traffic in comp.sys.mac.
I invite your comments on this draft. E-mail is preferred,
unless you really feel your comment is of interest to the whole group.
The last thing comp.sys.mac needs is more traffic! :-)
The best way to reach me is via uunet, either <uunet!pmafire!geoff> or
<pmafire!geoff@uunet.uu.net>. Replying to this message should also
work.
There are some things in the message enclosed within square brackets
(i.e. `[ ... ]'). These are comments or questions from me, and not part
of the message itself. Sometimes, I ask for a net.opinion on something
I'm not too sure about, so feel free to comment on those items.
I also mention a Question and Answer posting. I'll work on that as soon
as this is firmed up. Feel free to send suggestions for commonly asked
questions. (If you wish to volunteer an answer, I'll let you! :-> )
Here are questions I've thought of so far:
Q: What is FTP?
Q: What are some sites from which I can FTP Macintosh software?
Q: I'm at a .UUCP site; can I use FTP?
[Here, I'll give an explanation of the listserver at rice.]
Q: What do I do with the files on comp.binaries.mac (or that I FTP'd)?
Q: Where can I get BinHex 4.0?
[These two are related. I'll explain StuffIt, and why BinHex 4.0
isn't really necessary (and perhaps won't even work). I'll also
talk about mcvert for those on UNIX boxes.]
Q: How do I print PostScript to a file instead of a laser printer?
Q: I have a folder I can't delete. What should I do?
Thanks for your time. I hope these two postings will improve things for
all of us.
Geoff
-------------------------cut here-------------------------------
Welcome to the Macintosh groups on Usenet!
(Pun on the Macintosh's default StartUpScreen intended)
This is a regular posting providing information about Usenet Macintosh
groups. It is designed to help you find the best place to post your
Macintosh questions/discussions. A companion posting answers some of
the more commonly asked questions.
Usenet Macintosh groups
-----------------------
There are several newsgroups for discussions related to the Macintosh.
Here are group names, along with their `official' definitions taken from
the monthly `List of Active Newsgroups' posting in news.announce.newusers,
news.lists, and news.groups. Each of these is followed by a more
detailed explanation of the newsgroup.
**********
comp.sys.mac Discussions about the Apple Macintosh & Lisa.
This is the main Macintosh newsgroup. This is where general Macintosh
discussions (i.e., those without a specific group) should go. Volume is
very high in this group, so please try to do your part by not misposting
here.
**********
comp.sys.mac.hardware Macintosh hardware issues & discussions.
This newsgroup is for discussing Macintosh hardware. If you have a
question about your ImageWriter or want to know about how to upgrade the
memory in your Mac, this is the place.
**********
comp.sys.mac.hypercard The Macintosh Hypercard: info & uses.
Pretty self-explanatory. If you have a question or comment about
HyperCard, it belongs here. By extension, discussions about SuperCard
and Plus (two HyperCard-like programs from other vendors) also belong
here.
**********
comp.sys.mac.programmer Discussion by people programming the Apple Macintosh.
This group is for those involved in Macintosh programming. (Note, if
your Macintosh programming is in HyperTalk, then it belongs in
comp.sys.mac.hypercard.) Questions and discussions about writing XCMDs
and XCFNs for HyperCard should go ...
[here or c.s.m.hypercard? I can see a case for each.]
**********
comp.sys.mac.digest Apple Macintosh: info&uses, but no programs. (Moderated)
This newsgroup presents a digest of postings covering all Macintosh
topics. It is also the source of information for files available for
FTP from sumex-aim.stanford.edu. (See the Q & A posting for information
on FTP and alternatives for those not on the Internet.)
[Is this group really a mailing list that's gatewayed from Bitnet?
That's the impression I get, but I'm not sure I've ever seen anything
official declaring so.]
**********
comp.binaries.mac Encoded Macintosh programs in binary. (Moderated)
Macintosh programs in BinHex form appear here. For information on
retrieving these files, see the companion Q & A posting.
**********
comp.sources.mac Software for the Apple Macintosh. (Moderated)
[Is this group really active? Our feed for this is from uunet, and I've
never seen anything in it. If uunet doesn't get it, I wonder who does.]
**********
comp.protocols.appletalk Applebus hardware & software.
Questions and discussions relating to AppleTalk (LocalTalk) and
Macintosh networking belong here.
**********
comp.unix.aux The version of UNIX for Apple Macintosh II computers.
If you want to talk about A/UX, this is the place to do it.
**********
comp.sys.apple Discussion about Apple micros.
Note: This group is *not* for discussing the Macintosh. Please don't
post your Macintosh discussions here. Comp.sys.apple is for Apple ][
and Apple /// computers.
A Word About Crossposting
-------------------------
You should have little need to crosspost within the Macintosh
newsgroups. They are designed to provide dedicated areas for your
discussions, and there should be little, if any, crossover between
areas.
The most commonly seen crossposting is to post to one of the more
specific groups and crosspost to comp.sys.mac., for example:
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.sys.mac
This is unnecessary, and even somewhat rude. If you have a programming
question, it should be posted to comp.sys.mac.programmer. There are
folks reading comp.sys.mac who don't really care about programming the
Macintosh, and they shouldn't have to wade through programming
discussions. That's why comp.sys.mac.programmer exists.
This, of course, applies to the other groups as well.
Other Groups of Interest
------------------------
There are other groups that, while not Macintosh-specific, may be the
place to post your questions/discussions. For example:
comp.fonts Typefonts -- design, conversion, use, etc.
comp.text Text processing issues and methods.
comp.text.desktop Technology & techniques of desktop publishing.
These groups would be a better place for desktop publishing discussions,
since they exist for just such a purpose.
comp.lang.c Discussion about C.
comp.lang.pascal Discussion about Pascal.
If you have questions or discussions about the language you're
programming in rather than a Macintosh-specific programming question,
this would be a better place to post.
In short, check the list of active newsgroups (posted monthly to
news.announce.newusers, news.lists, and news.groups) for newsgroups that
might be of interest. Some examples you might wish to explore include:
comp.graphics Computer graphics, art, animation, image processing.
comp.graphics.digest Graphics software, hardware, theory, etc. (Moderated)
comp.ivideodisc Interactive videodiscs -- uses, potential, etc.
comp.lang.postscript The PostScript Page Description Language.
comp.laser-printers Laser printers, hardware & software. (Moderated)
comp.object Object-oriented programming and languages.
comp.os.minix Discussion of Tanenbaum's MINIX system.
comp.unix Discussion of UNIX* features and bugs. (Moderated)
comp.unix.questions UNIX neophytes group.
comp.unix.wizards Discussions, bug reports, and fixes on and for UNIX.
comp.windows.misc Various issues about windowing systems.
comp.windows.x Discussion about the X Window System.
comp.virus Computer viruses & security. (Moderated)
--
Geoff Allen
{uunet|bigtex}!pmafire!geoff
ucdavis!egg-id!pmafire!geoffgeoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) (03/01/90)
In article <1990Feb23.182327.8953@pmafire.UUCP>, I posted a draft of a
welcome message which will eventaully be posted here (or in
c.s.m.announce, if that gets created--see news.groups) on a regular
basis. One person sent me e-mail saying that the article had some ugly
word wrap on his terminal. On my 80 character wide terminal it looks
fine, so I was wondering if any of the rest of you noticed a problem
with lines wrapping in the referenced message.
Send mail to uunet!pmafire!geoff.
Thanks,
GeoffJ.COOK@ENS.Prime.COM (03/15/90)
Geoff@pmafile.UUCP asked: >Here is a first draft of a welcome message which would be posted >regularly to comp.sys.mac. Its purpose is to help folks understand the >various Macintosh-related Usenet groups, and (hopefully) reduce some of >the misplaced traffic in comp.sys.mac. > >I invite your comments on this draft. E-mail is preferred,... Well, my email bounced (retry limit exceeded), so my comments are to add answers to the following questions: 1. How do I send mail to addresses listed as "george@phoenix.uucp"? When I send mail to there over the internet, there is not enough routing information for the message to make it there. Is there any help? (I obviously don't know the answer to this one either). 2. Format to post stuff in. (80 char./line, each line terminated with a <CR>). 3. How do I translate a IP name to an IP number? (i.e. lut.fi is 128.214.25.8). 4. Those perennial (daily) favorites: - Where is the cheapest, reliable memory SIMMs? - What speed should I get? - Will faster memory help? - What modem should I get? - What kind of disk should I get? - Where is the cheapest place to get it? Hope this makes it to you. Jim Cook <J.COOK@ENS.PRIME.COM> Prime Computer, Inc. 500 Old Conn. Path, Framingham, Mass. 01748 "Standard disclaimers apply, your mileage may vary, these disclaimers for comparison purposes only."