chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg) (10/01/90)
[ Document created: $Date: 90/09/26 08:52:44 $ ] This article is the second CALL FOR DISCUSSION on renaming comp.unix.internals to comp.unix.esoterica. THIS ARTICLE IS **NOT** A CALL FOR VOTES. PLEASE EXAMINE THE ENTIRE PROPOSAL BEFORE COMMENTING ON IT. All discussion regarding this proposal will take place in news.groups ONLY. If you post articles elsewhere, I might read them, but I might not. Comments intended for me personally should be sent by E-Mail to <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!pdn!tct!chip> or <chip%tct@pdn.paradyne.com>. +-----------+ | RATIONALE | +-----------+ Several people who could contribute much to comp.unix.internals have have held back due to fear of legal repercussions. It seems that the AT&T UNIX source license contains an injunction against anyone revealing the "internals" of UNIX. Of course, we all know that the group name has nothing to do with the content of any given article. Unfortunately, that truth can easily be lost on a judge or jury. Therefore, several people have decided to play it safe and bow out. That's everyone's loss. Furthermore, many topics that were discussed in comp.unix.wizards cannot be accurately described by the word "internals." +----------+ | PROPOSAL | +----------+ I propose that we rename comp.unix.internals to comp.unix.esoterica, with a charter of "UNIX esoterica." The word "esoterica" in the group name, along with its simple two-word charter, should make the group more resistant to the novice questions that were all too frequent in comp.unix.wizards. The new name will also more accurately reflect the content of the group: anything about UNIX that is obscure or difficult to understand. +---------------+ | VOTING METHOD | +---------------+ THIS ARTICLE IS **NOT** A CALL FOR VOTES. PLEASE EXAMINE THE ENTIRE PROPOSAL BEFORE COMMENTING ON IT. I will collect votes on my machine, "tct", which is two Trailblazer hops away from uunet. I will use a Perl script to tabulate well-formed votes. I will examine each vote rejected by the Perl script. If it is complete and its meaning is obvious, I will fix it. Otherwise, I will reply to the voter with a form message that explains how to cast a valid vote. +----------+ | SCHEDULE | +----------+ 1. Discussion: The official discussion period began on Friday, September 14. 2. Voting: I will issue a Call For Votes on Friday, October 12. The vote will run for 21 days from when the Call For Votes appears in news.announce.newgroups. I will post a second Call For Votes, and possibly a list of unreachable return addresses, during the voting period. When the vote is over, I will post the final results. 3. Waiting Period: I will observe the normal waiting period of five days from the time that the final results appear in news.announce.newgroups. During this time, people may report lost votes and/or impugn the fairness of the vote taker. :-) 4. Consummation: After the waiting period, I will issue the appropriate control message to create comp.unix.esoterica. About one week later, I will re-issue the creation control message, and also issue a removal control message for comp.unix.internals. If all goes as planned, the renaming of comp.unix.internals to comp.unix.esoterica should be complete by mid-November. -- Chip Salzenberg at Teltronics/TCT <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!pdn!tct!chip>