rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist) (02/11/85)
[ this bug moderated out of existence ]
I have been seeing frequent assertions that moderated groups
"don't work." I do not agree.
One's definition of "working" is subjective; for example,
a moderated group that appears in the list of top 25 newsgroups
isn't "working" in the way that pro-moderation people want, since
it is by implication getting too large to read.
Different moderated groups work for different reasons.
Mod.std.c is much easier to read than net.lang.c
(I realize it isn't meant to replace the group) because it tends
to have articles that are longer and more general in nature than
net.lang.c. Sorry, but I can't read the 5,000th posting on whether
or not C needs BCD operations, or on how the C compiler on the
Krum-Scum-computer from KrumCorp breaks if you insert ASM lines....
Net.lang.c is useful, but the non-C specialist will drown.
Mod.motss is a useful way of keeping up in a group which I
don't generally have time to read; one thing posted is a regular
summary of what is appearing in the unmoderated group. This allows
me to pick & choose interesting discussions. (Kudos to the person
who takes time to prepare these summaries!)
Mod.singles is a place where people can discuss things
anonymously. Without getting into a discussion of the GENERAL
appropriateness of anonymous postings, I merely want to note that
a recent message was well thought out, clearly written, not libellous
and to the point (already better than 80% of traffic on some groups).
It also mentioned that the poster was trying a menage a trois;
something that few people would have felt comfortable posting
by name. Without the moderated group, this message could not
have been anonymous and would not have appeared.
Mod.newslists, etc., is missing all the test messages,
"What does foo mean", etc. that litters up most of the general
news-related groups; even though the contents of these
groups is of low interest to me I can afford to stay subscribed
because of their low volume.
--
"1985: Why 1985 isn't like 1984"
Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC
1210 West Dayton St/U Wisconsin Madison/Mad WI 53706
{allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick