jkg@gatech.edu (Jim Greenlee) (05/04/89)
[ My first posting got lost when our /usr/spool directory filled up. Apologies for having to do it again - jkg ] I'm going to break one of my own rules, and flame somebody in public. There is actually some "content" at the end of this article, so you may want to skip to that if you don't care to see Mr. Boeing get french-fried. In article <1944@csuna.csun.edu> abcscagz@csuna.csun.edu (Jeff Boeing) writes: >Back in the good old days before c.b.i.p became moderated, anyone who wanted >to share his binaries with the usenet world was free to. You mean the "good old days" when somebody posted a commercial software product (MEAN18) without so much as asking the authors for permission? You mean the "good old days" when a 500+ kilobyte crippled version of another commercial product (PSPICE) was posted not once but *three* times in the same month? Sorry, but we need the "good old days" like we need a hole in the head. > It is true that since the group became moderated we've seen an (almost) >constant flux of archiving, dearchiving, and *NIX-like utilities; however, >we have also seen times when Rahul's site has gone down and the only thing >we got on c.b.i.p was dead space and a HUGE backlog of programs. I didn't mind the lulls - in fact, I hardly notice them. But then, I have better things to do with my time than monitor the traffic (or lack of it) in comp.binaries.ibm.pc. Maybe we should use your site - I'm sure it *never* goes down, and you seem to have a lot of free time to make sure that things go smoothly. >Once >again, I am led to understand that the posting of the long-awaited PC >NetHack version 2.3 will be delayed due to problems at Rahul's end. So you have to wait a couple of extra days to get a game - BFD. Why don't you spend that time doing something productive, like work? (On a related subject, why does this "let's provide an unmoderated forum" question always seem to be raised by somebody who's looking for a game?) > A moderated group for pc-compatible binaries serves a necessary >function. But we need a place where ANYONE can just leave a program for >anyone's consideration, with no guarantees and no strings attached. This group serves exactly the function for which it was created, namely keeping bandwidth down in other newsgroups and eliminating redundant postings. There is also some measure of protection from malevolent program(mer)s. Rahul is doing an outstanding job under less than ideal circumstances, and I don't see how having to wait an extra week to get something is going to cause the world to cave in (imminent death of the net predicted). If you're so desparate for PC-Nethack, why not send a postage paid floppy mailer and formatted diskette to Don Kneller (or Steve Creps, or whoever is maintaining it these days) and have it sent directly to you? Why should the site admins on the net have to foot the bill for your impatience? (Ron Heiby, if he's reading this, can jump in anytime he feels like it :-) If this group ever becomes unmoderated, then it will cease to exist. Period. It was almost rmgrouped twice before (in the "good old days"). This is no exaggeration - I have first-hand personal knowledge of events surrounding the near-demise of c.b.i.p., and I would prefer not to see those events repeated. I think this group is a valuable commodity to its readers. Let's not stir up the moderation issue again, OK? It's a question of self- preservation - the current system is working quite well, and the alternative is clearly much worse for all of us. Jim Greenlee -- Jim Greenlee - Instructor, School of ICS, Georgia Tech jkg@gatech.edu Jryy, abj lbh'ir tbar naq qbar vg! Whfg unq gb xrrc svqqyvat jvgu vg hagvy lbh oebxr vg, qvqa'g lbh?!
jxdl@lanl.gov (Jerry DeLapp) (05/04/89)
Re: the much delayed posting of PC NetHack... IT WASN'T RD's or JH's FAULT!!! It was mine. I'm the one who reported that there were problems with the fixes that JH had made to nethack for the PC. (Save levels and ghosts didn't work). JH properly asked RD to delay the posting until he could fix the bugs that I found. What good would getting an early version of the game do you if it didn't work? I think JH is probably glad that the binary didn't go out. As it was he only got a few "hey something's funny here" messages instead of the thousands I'm sure he would have gotten had the bum binary been released. I can't help but feel the person carping for an unmoderated group would probably have been the most vocal critic of the game not working :-). -- _ /| The opinions here are my own, and even I don't agree with me :-) \'o.O' I am not an employee of LANL, I just use their computers. =(___)= I stole the .sig file, but I did not shoot no deputeeee. U Bill sez: AAAAK! PHHHT! jxdl@lanl.gov
heiby@falkor.UUCP (Ron Heiby) (05/06/89)
Jim Greenlee (jkg@gatech.UUCP) writes: > Why should > the site admins on the net have to foot the bill for your impatience? (Ron > Heiby, if he's reading this, can jump in anytime he feels like it :-) Thank you! I think I will! > If this group ever becomes unmoderated, then it will cease to exist. Period. I believe this statement to be completely accurate. Someone has to use some judgement in what gets posted and how much gets posted "all at once". Having archives for the group is a *big* help in eliminating needs for multiple copies getting posted. If the group becomes a "free-for-all" once again, I will stop carrying it. I suspect that most major sites other than uunet will stop carrying it as well. I'd rather get good stuff on comp.binaries.ibm.pc. I'd rather pay Compuserve for good stuff than pay for crap in comp.binaries.ibm.pc. -- Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com Moderator: comp.newprod "Life is indeed an inexplicable sequence of imponderable surprises."