spaf@gatech.EDU (Gene Spafford) (10/18/86)
net.micro.pc is for postings and discussions about IBM PCs and compatibles.
It is *NOT* a newsgroup for posting 200K object files. It is *NOT* a
newsgroup for REPOSTING object files. Posting and reposting of
large object files is not only inappropriate, it is rude and
a waste of net resources.
If this abuse of the newsgroup continues, I will stop carrying
net.micro.pc here and stop forwarding it to other backbone sites. I
suspect that many other admins, including some backbone admins, will do
the same. The readership of net.micro.pc is not very large (at least
here) and I see no reason to waste resources on inappropriate postings
in that group. I have no objection to carrying discussion-oriented
articles, or even reasonably-sized source postings, but I will not
carry unmoderated object postings, especially when other sites are
complaining about the volume in the group.
--
Gene Spafford
Software Engineering Research Center (SERC), Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf@ics.GATECH.EDU
uucp: ...!{akgua,decvax,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,seismo,ulysses}!gatech!spafheiby@cuae2.UUCP (Ron Heiby) (10/21/86)
In article <483@rtech.UUCP> bobm@rtech.UUCP (Bob Mcqueer) writes: >Long articles is really the issue, not source vs. object. Actually, article length is only part of the issue. More important in my mind is "Bang for Buck", "Knobs per Dollar", "Utility for Cost". This means that for many people, source code is much more useful than object, because it can be customized for a particular need. Also, parts of it may be applicable to an entirely different type of hardware. I would much rather handle an article containing source in the clear than either encoded source or encoded object. Until quite recently, my site didn't have uudecode, so we had been passing huge encoded files around with zero benefit possible. It also seems that after every uuencoded posting, we see about a dozen postings requesting a copy of uudecode. On the posting of object code in the first place, I don't believe in it. Distribution of executable/object files are well handled by the existing infrasturcture of user groups and bulletin boards. There is no reason why the net must collectively pay several hundred dollars to save several people who may possibly be interested in a program the (about) $5 it costs to get a floppy from a user group like PC Blue. Most of the users of the net are in metropolitan areas where local user groups can provide an effective (and even cheaper) method of distributing such material. -- Ron Heiby heiby@cuae2.ATT.COM Moderator: mod.newprod & mod.os.unix AT&T-IS, /app/eng, Lisle, IL (312) 810-6109 "Hay una mujer desaparecida...."