matt@prism.UUCP (10/23/85)
/* Written 9:13 am Oct 21, 1985 by spaf@gatech in prism:net.announce */ /* ---------- ""fa" to "mod" group conversion star" ---------- */ > For those of you who don't read net.news.group, let me summarize some > of the major reasons why this change is occuring: > > 2) With the "mod" groups, simply putting the > moderator name and path in the "moderators" file on each machine > will result in "postnews" and "Pnews" (from Larry Wall's "rn" > package) being usable to submit articles. > Rich $alz here at Mirror Systems (mirror!rs) has also modified Notes 1.7 to know about moderated newsgroups, and automatically post submissions to the moderator. I believe source diffs were posted to the net recently, but if not, I will MAIL diff listings upon request. > 5) Better naming. Besides providing a beter structure, this also > allows some opportunity to provide a more explanative name for some > of these groups. Our experience has shown that (for instance) some > people thought "fa.sun-spots" was for astronomy buffs, and that > "fa.laser-lovers" was for physicists. The new names, > "mod.computers.sun" and "mod.computers.laser-printers" should be > more easily understood by someone who hasn't looked though the list > of groups recently. Has anyone considered that the new mod names (mod.computers.*) are not significant within the first 14 characters? This will break sites running older versions of news and notes. Is it too late to request a name change? (Perhaps mod.comp.*?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt Landau ARPA: matt%mirror@cca Mirror Systems, Inc. UUCP: {decvax!cca, ima!inmet, mit-eddie, wjh12}... Cambridge, MA ...mirror!matt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blessed are they that run around in circles, for they shall be known as wheels.
ron@brl-sem.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (10/25/85)
Now I am pissed. SPAF has decided to groups for hitherto unannounced and by his own arguments undetermined need ARPA->USENET links. What is especially distressing is that he has done this to a WRONG mailing list. The GOULDBUGS mailing list is for BUGS. Specific BUG reports like 4BSD-BUGS@BERKELEY. It is a mailing list which is a direct feed in to the software support department at GOULD. It is not for general net.whining about GOULD processors. However, without any preliminary announcement, nor entry in the announcement groups, he has the intent of setting up "mod.computers.gould" to interact with GOULDBUGS. Sorry, but this is wrong. If Mr. Spafford is going to continue to pull this kind of ploy, he had damn well better do a lot to inform the users of the nature of the groups that he is setting up. How about a copy of INTEREST-GROUPS.TXT (which seems to be the master plan from which he is working) annotated to indicate how the names have been twisted, and sent out with the other instructional messages. Hopefully there is a live moderator on this one instead of an automatic program because if the USENET gets out of hand, the link to the real list that feeds GOULD will stop. How does Mr. Spafford intend to cope with a mailing list that may be establish for GOULDS in general? Do you know why there is no such group now? For the same reason the USENET uses as a criteria, there is no traffic demand for such a group. -Ron
fair@ucbarpa.BERKELEY.EDU (Erik E. &) (10/26/85)
In article <9100001@prism.UUCP> matt@prism.UUCP writes: > >Has anyone considered that the new mod names (mod.computers.*) are not >significant within the first 14 characters? This will break sites running >older versions of news and notes. Is it too late to request a name >change? (Perhaps mod.comp.*?) The last version of netnews which could not handle names longer than 14 characters was B 2.9. It is four years old at this point. I have no sympathy for sites that have not as yet updated to AT LEAST B 2.10. While backward compatability is a goal in new releases of netnews, you can't expect us to maintain backward compatability forever, especially if this precludes the use of new features. As for old notesfiles sites, I consider them in the same light as I do old netnews sites. A notesfiles site that expects to interact with the rest of USENET has to be prepared to track the standard and upgrade as necessary. I don't know exactly when the `alias' feature which handles long newsgroup names for notesfiles became available in notes, but I know it was in place when net.religion.christian was created nearly a year ago, because there was some silly foofrah in net.news.group at the time. The network can be viewed as society undergoing evolution, and those elements of the society that don't adapt to the changes will cease to be an effective part of that society. (creationists can send their flames to net.origins) The software is the basis of this society, and it changes as the nature of the network changes. It changes to the tune of popular demand, to fix problems found, and to experiment with new ideas in human communication by computer. Sites that don't update will eventually be left in the dust (although at the current pace, this takes years). keeper of the network news for ucbvax, Erik E. Fair ucbvax!fair fair@ucbarpa.BERKELEY.EDU
spaf@gatech.CSNET (Gene Spafford) (10/27/85)
In article <453@brl-sem.ARPA> ron@brl-sem.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) writes: >Now I am pissed. So am I, Ron. You've done this before -- going off half-cocked and flaming someone WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS. >SPAF has decided to groups for hitherto unannounced and by his own arguments >undetermined need ARPA->USENET links. Erik Fair is doing the switchover from "fa" to "mod" groups. I issued the "newgroups" on the basis of a list he sent me which indicates which Arpa groups corresponded to which "mod" groups under the switch. He compiled that list, I assumed, based on his mail traffic the postings resulting from the discussion in net.news.group and net.news a month back. I *DID NOT* decide anything about these groups. >What is especially distressing is that he has done this to a WRONG >mailing list. The GOULDBUGS mailing list is for BUGS. Specific BUG >reports like 4BSD-BUGS@BERKELEY. It is a mailing list which is a direct >feed in to the software support department at GOULD. It is not for >general net.whining about GOULD processors. However, without any >preliminary announcement, nor entry in the announcement groups, he has >the intent of setting up "mod.computers.gould" to interact with >GOULDBUGS. Fine. Once I heard that, I deleted it. I still don't know why Erik had it in his list that way. If there is something else like that, let me know. And please let Erik know. I thought you were a responsible individual? Why do so many otherwise reasonable individuals seem to lose all sense of proportion and maturity when they sit down in front of a terminal? How much would it take to send me mail and *ASK* why something is happening rather than make up your own interpretation and post it as a flame? To repeat: Usenet -- Those who can, try; those who can't, bitch and flame those who try. -- Gene "sometime in 1986" Spafford The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332 CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf%GATech.CSNet @ CSNet-Relay.ARPA uucp: ...!{akgua,decvax,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,seismo,ulysses}!gatech!spaf
tp@ndm20 (11/01/85)
>>Has anyone considered that the new mod names (mod.computers.*) are not >>significant within the first 14 characters? This will break sites running >>older versions of news and notes. Is it too late to request a name >>change? (Perhaps mod.comp.*?) Almost right. I run notes 1.7, the latest version, and the names break my site! As for old notesfiles sites, I consider them in the same light as I do old netnews sites. A notesfiles site that expects to interact with the rest of USENET has to be prepared to track the standard and upgrade as >necessary. I don't know exactly when the `alias' feature which handles >long newsgroup names for notesfiles became available in notes, but I >know it was in place when net.religion.christian was created nearly a >year ago, because there was some silly foofrah in net.news.group at the >time. Sorry to disappoint you but the alias feature is less than perfect. It only works on transmit. Now I could go through all the hassle of getting stuff set up upstream, but I won't ever know to do it because the new stuff goes right into the old group. Are you going to send me advance mail every time you create one of these monsters? And everyone else affected? >The network can be viewed as society undergoing evolution, and those >elements of the society that don't adapt to the changes will cease to >be an effective part of that society. >communication by computer. Sites that don't update will eventually be >left in the dust (although at the current pace, this takes years). Admirable attitude. How about I show similar concern for my fellow man by shoving all this stuff back out onto the net in the group I recieve it in. Thats mod.computers.* -> mod.computers.vax and mod.protocols.* in mod.protocols.tcp-ip. Note that this would happen automatically If I had more than one notes feed, and probably will when it hits someone who does have multiple feeds and is otherwise in my situation. IT ISN'T THAT DAMNED HARD TO THINK OF NAMES THAT ARE UNIQUE TO 14 CHARACTERS!!! You have made the unilateral decision to screw a lot of people. WHY? Does it offend your sensibilities that greatly to have names that are unique to 14 characters? It is an easy problem to fix, and only your unwillingness to do so makes it a problem at all! Terry Poot Nathan D. Maier Consulting Engineers (214)739-4741 Usenet: ...!{allegra|ihnp4}!convex!smu!ndm20!tp CSNET: ndm20!tp@smu ARPA: ndm20!tp%smu@csnet-relay.ARPA
joel@gould9.UUCP (Joel West) (11/02/85)
In article <1744@gatech.CSNET>, spaf@gatech.CSNET (Gene Spafford) writes: > In article <453@brl-sem.ARPA> ron@brl-sem.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) writes: > >Now I am pissed. > > So am I, Ron. You've done this before -- going off half-cocked and > flaming someone WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS. > > I thought you were a responsible individual? Why do so many otherwise > reasonable individuals seem to lose all sense of proportion and > maturity when they sit down in front of a terminal? Some might ask about pots and black kettles....