davidsen@steinmetz.steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (03/30/88)
Three weeks ago I offered to accept resumes for moderator, publish
those resumes, and take votes on the candidates. I will then post the
results to these newsgroups and mail them to the backbone sites. The
backbone will then do what they want, or nothing.
Only two candidates have sent me their resumes, and I have posted them
in the order received (which happily is also alphabetical order). I feel
that both of these people are qualified candidates.
I hope that the vote on this will resolve the issue and free up some
bandwidth for binaries.
HOW TO VOTE
===========
Send a message to:
davidsen@crdos1.uucp
wedu@ge-crd.arpa
uunet!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
The subject should be "VOTE" and the message body should be name, or the
phrase "no moderator." Anything not fitting these exact formats will
still be counted by hand, but save me a little trouble and try to do it
right.
Votes will be collected until April 10th, and the results posted on the
11th. After the moderator is selected I will leave it to him to post
whatever rules and questionares are needed.
The resumes:
To: crdos1!davidsen (Wm E. Davidsen), crdos1!davidsen
Subject: Re: moderator and zoo
Date: Wed, 23 Mar 88 00:28:14 EST
Here's my resume re moderation, only it's not exactly a resume.
You will probably get duplicate copies. -- R.D.
=====
Moderation of comp.binaries.ibm.pc
There are two major reasons why sources and binaries newsgroups are
moderated. (a) To avoid non-sources or non-binaries being posted in
the same newsgroup. Many sites archive these newsgroups automatically,
and having discussions in the same forum eats up disk space. (b) To
maintain a certain level of quality. For example, comp.sources.unix
does not accept any sources that are not accompanied with documentation
and a makefile; anything received that doesn't qualify is forwarded to
comp.sources.misc, which accepts anything that is source code.
I don't think comp.binaries.ibm.pc should be run like
comp.sources.unix, where postings can be rejected based on quality.
People who don't or can't post to comp.sources.unix can always post to
comp.sources.misc instead. But there is no such alternative to
comp.binaries.ibm.pc.
Nor is it really feasible for the moderator to guarantee the absence of
Trojan horse software. Exhaustive testing before posting submissions
will cause delays and will still not always detect Trojan horses.
If delays are caused, submitters will have no option but to
wait. I want to avoid this.
Therefore, if I moderate comp.binaries.ibm.pc, my policies will be as
follows:
TESTING
-- If I can test submitted software without delay, I will test it and
post a warning if I find something wrong, but I will not
ordinarily suppress a posting unless it seems to be illegal,
destructive, or a duplicate of another posting made in the
preceding 12 months.
-- If something seems copyrighted without appropriate permission
to distribute, I will suppress it until I can get clarification
from the submitter or the author.
-- If something destroys my hard disk, I won't post it until I
can verify that it is not a Trojan. I will be alert for suspicious
behavior, but won't guarantee that posted software is safe.
FORMAT
-- Although I'm the creator of the zoo archive format, I will do whatever
the net readers want regarding archive format. I'm inclined to post
most documentation and source code in shar format, because that is
extractable on just about any UNIX system, and is human-readable so
people can quickly decide if they are interested in it. But I'm
open to suggestion. Submitters can still send stuff in any archive
format of their choice--I will extract and re-archive if necessary.
If I do post in shar format, I will supply a short program (for
System V, 4.xBSD, and MSDOS) that will verify CRC values of
everything posted so you will know if a file was corrupted.
ARCHIVING
-- We save most stuff that comes over Usenet here, but I'm very
reluctant to let bsu-cs be an archive server that distributes
software by mail. This is to be kind to our UUCP neighbors,
and their neighbors, and so on.
-- But if I moderate, I will provide a header with an archive name
to help automatic archiving by other sites.
RESOURCES
-- Site bsu-cs is a VAX-11/785 running 4.3BSD. I'm the sysadmin. We
have a total of about 700 megabytes of disk space, but most of it is
quite full. About 20 to 50 megabytes working space is usually
available. Submitted software will usually be saved here for a few
months, so if a posting gets widely corrupted I can post it again.
-- For testing purposes I have these systems: A PC clone made by
Toshiba of Japan and almost sold by Xerox; an IBM PC; and a PC's
Limited AT.
EDITORIAL
-- With almost every posting you will find a brief editorial from me.
Users who wish may use this editorial as a guide to which software
to keep and which to discard.
-- Rahul Dhesi 1988/03/22
From: steinmetz!uunet!hawk.ulowell.edu!boneill (SoftXc Coordinator)
Subject: Moderator...
To: crdos1!davidsen
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 88 10:53:02 EDT
I read your posting about taking resumes for moderators. Well, here is a
copy of the posting I just sent to comp.binaries.ibm.pc. I suggest you
repost your article, so everyone knows that you are accepting applications.
============================================================================
Brian O'Neill University of Lowell
boneill@hawk.ulowell.edu - boneill@hawk.UUCP ...!ulowell!hawk!boneill
MS-DOS Software Exchange Coordinator - E-mail for details
----------------------------
O.K. It's time for another person to enter the battle...
I've just received word from the System Administrator here that it is
possible to create a moderation site here for comp.binaries.ibm.pc. I hate
to add to the confusion about who is what, but I thought I'd give it a try.
I can set up an archive site with anonymous ftp access, and possibly soon
UUCP access for those who didn't manage to catch the postings. Also, I'd be
willing to carry over my Software Exchange service, allowing people to
request programs by e-mail.
I am open to ideas as to the format. My last idea on a standard ARC format
seems to be getting shot down very quickly, but it was only a passing
thought... (Please turn off those flamethrowers!!!) I completely forgot
about those people who examine ARC files before downloading, and would not
be able to use a self-extracting file.
Some reasons I thought about to moderate:
- We need one.
- I try most every program on my own PC before I send them to people
- I keep large amounts of archives already on one system, and I am
trying to make them public
- I have anonymous ftp access to most archive sites
- I also have access to CompuServe, and may also get access to
GEnie, so I would be able to get some programs faster than
generally available on the net.
- The System Administrator works very closely to the Net-Gods, and
should easily get the backbones to accept a moderator
I read an article someone posted about sending resumes to him, and he would
tally votes. I will send a copy of this posting directly to him, and also
ask him to repost about taking votes. I suggest all people interested in
moderating send him messages concerning this.
Thanx for putting up with my input.
--
bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
{uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -mebobmon@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (outsider) (03/31/88)
Gee, I wish the eventual Presidential choices would be so agreeable. It's nice to vote FOR someone instead of AGAINST someone, and be satisfied either way... [ :-) :-( ]