[net.news.group] removing groups: suggestion

mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) (03/14/86)

     I would like to see rmgroup control messages taken right out of the
netnews  software.  What  I would  suggest in  their place is  a program
which  deletes  a  newsgroup *locally*.    Then  if  Spaf  wants  to zap
net.internat (to pick  an example which caused some furor a while  back)
because he feels it was created inappropriately, or  net.bizarre because
it's taking up too much of his time and money, he can cut it off totally
for his machine, which is really the only one I can see he has any right
to  dictate its  disposition on.   Or  the  backbone  can  quit carrying
net.flame, and it will probably continue around  the  edges  because the
net is so  strongly connected.  But the backbone  won't have any problem
with it.  Poor backbone, I don't know what they'll do if they don't have
any excuse to gripe about newsgroups eating up phone bills (:-).

     Note also that there is no problem with the clown news admins whose
idea of a great practical joke is to rmgroup net.news.

     Comments?

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					der Mouse

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[ Aphorism is currently under advisement. ]

radzy@calma.UUCP (Tim Radzykewycz) (03/18/86)

In article <377@mcgill-vision.UUCP> mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) writes:
>     I would like to see rmgroup control messages taken right out of the
>netnews  software.  What  I would  suggest in  their place is  a program
>which  deletes  a  newsgroup *locally*.

This is already the case, only better.  Currently, it is
possible to configure systems so that they do or don't
execute rmgroup control messages automatically, at the option
of the installer.  Our site is configured so that we get
automatic creation of groups, but groups have to be deleted
manually.  If I do an 'rmgroup', I don't send out rmgroup
control messages to the net.

The reason for having the rmgroup control messages available
is so that some administrators (who are, or consider
themselves to be, overworked) would like to keep netnews
administration to a minimum.

If you have a problem with the rmgroup messages, then reconfigure
your software!  Don't just gripe about it.
-- 
Tim (radzy) Radzykewycz, The Incredible Radical Cabbage.
	ARPA:	calma!radzy@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
	GEnet:	cc5vxa::cc5mxd::calma::radzy
	UUCP:	{ucbvax,sun,csd-gould}!calma!radzy
	VOICE:	"Hey! Radzy!"

sob@drillsys.UUCP (Stan Barber) (03/18/86)

The way netnews is setup, the administrator can elect to do all
the rmgroup's manually. All s/he has to do is define MANUALLY when
s/he compiles the news. Your administrator may not want to bother 
with it and allows the rmgroup message to do the work automatically.

I disagree that removing it is a good idea. I believe that this control
message as well as all the others help keep the net running. Without
some automation, the local site administators would have to spend too
much time with news and not enough doing his/her "real" job.

Of course, this may not concern you. You may just be a consumer of
the netnews, a provider of opinion and not a volunteer to be sure that
it operates smoothly at your site.