mwm@ea.UUCP (06/14/84)
#R:umcp-cs:-745900:ea:9100004:000:1214 ea!mwm Jun 14 15:18:00 1984 /***** ea:net.news.group / alice!alb / 10:18 am Jun 12, 1984 */ >Moderators for each group is a no-no. It ruins the whole >purpose of USENET as a bulletin board. If you want moderators, >go to the ARPAnet. We can have moderated groups, like net.announce >and mod.ber, but only by special name. The software cannot >currently support other moderated groups. First comment: the suggestion wasn't for a "moderator", but for someone to be "responsible" for the group. The intent would be for that person to read the group religiously, send mail to mis-posters, decide if/when subgroups should be spawned, and maybe decide that the group should die. The maintainer (for lack of a better word) doesn *not* have to read articles before they are posted (the essence of a moderated group). >The net will slowly and smoothly become organized over the years (yes, >years, don't groan; it didn't become chaos overnight, and it's not going to >be fixed overnight) as the new groups are put in their place and the old >ones die out. I don't think that the net would ever be completely rearranged. What are the chances of net.unix[-wizards] going away? Eventually, some newsgroups would just have to be renamed. <mike