rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (02/15/86)
This article is cross-posted to net.news.group and net.columbia. Followups should go ONLY to net.news.group. > Sigh. A shuttle blows up, and in a week, half the traffic in the > appropriate newsgroup is on what to call the newsgroup. Sigh. > > Alan Silverstein Does that surprise you? It was because the newsgroup had a bad name to begin with. It should have been net.space.shuttle from the very beginning. Just think - how silly is it to name a newsgroup net.mimd instead of net.arch? Or net.struct instead of net.lang.c? But no, it was named for sentimental reasons net.columbia. This led to all kinds of misunderstandings when it came to people wanting to know if there was even a newsgroup for space shuttle articles or if net.columbia was meant entirely for discussions of the make-up of Columbia River. With a sentimental (as opposed to rational) name like net.columbia, it was inevitable that someone would suggest renaming it net.challenger, also for sentimental reasons. In fact, I think the first suggestion of that type was posted the very day of the explosion. And then followed a torrent of postings from net readers saying "count this as my vote for changing net.columbia to net.challenger." Much, if not all, of this could have been avoided if it had been named net.space.shuttle from the beginning. I and others suggested several times long before the Challenger accident that the name should be net.space.shuttle. This movement never got enough support to accomplish the name change. I appeal now, on rational grounds, to all readers of net.columbia who are irritated by the flood of postings of the "net.challenger" type: LET'S CHANGE THE NAME OF net.columbia TO net.space.shuttle ! I think the advantages of this name change far outweigh any claimed dif- ficulties from such a change. And suggestions that net.challenger is a fitting memorial or that net.columbia was to honor the first space shuttle just don't hold any rational water. Even net.enterprise would have made a more reasonable name than net.columbia. (And it can never be destroyed in space.) But let's make things right and make it, once and for all, net.space.shuttle. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe
inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) (02/20/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** *** CATCH THIS ONE TOO WILL YOU BUSTER? *** > I and others suggested several times long before the Challenger accident > that the name should be net.space.shuttle. This movement never got enough > support to accomplish the name change. I appeal now, on rational grounds, > to all readers of net.columbia who are irritated by the flood of postings > of the "net.challenger" type: > LET'S CHANGE THE NAME OF net.columbia TO net.space.shuttle ! > I think the advantages of this name change far outweigh any claimed dif- > ficulties from such a change. > -- > Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe Get off it. You make a good point for reason and rationality in a computer network that is *FAR* from rational. Sure logic is great, but it isn't *EVERYTHING* for crying out loud! Take a break, partner. I like a little sentimentality now and again. It's kind of cozy, you know? -- Gary Benson * John Fluke Mfg. Co. * PO Box C9090 * Everett WA * 98206 MS/232-E = = {allegra} {uw-beaver} !fluke!inc = = (206)356-5367 _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-ascii is our god and unix is his profit-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
phoenix@genat.UUCP (phoenix) (02/24/86)
In article <757@tpvax.fluke.UUCP> inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) writes: > >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** >*** CATCH THIS ONE TOO WILL YOU BUSTER? *** > >> I and others suggested several times long before the Challenger accident >> that the name should be net.space.shuttle. This movement never got enough >> support to accomplish the name change. I appeal now, on rational grounds, >> to all readers of net.columbia who are irritated by the flood of postings >> of the "net.challenger" type: >> LET'S CHANGE THE NAME OF net.columbia TO net.space.shuttle ! >> I think the advantages of this name change far outweigh any claimed dif- >> ficulties from such a change. >> -- >> Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe > > >Get off it. You make a good point for reason and rationality in a computer >network that is *FAR* from rational. Sure logic is great, but it isn't >*EVERYTHING* for crying out loud! > >Take a break, partner. I like a little sentimentality now and again. It's >kind of cozy, you know? > > >-- > Gary Benson * John Fluke Mfg. Co. * PO Box C9090 * Everett WA * 98206 > MS/232-E = = {allegra} {uw-beaver} !fluke!inc = = (206)356-5367 > _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-ascii is our god and unix is his profit-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Before the explosion, I would have been in favour of "net.enterprise" rather than "net.columbia" (well, it *was* the first one, wasn't it? or did I miss something...)(I saw her flight over Toronto a while back; it still gives me shivers...). I now support any name that is *not* net.space.shuttle. That name, compared with the others is essentially sterile, devoid of emotional content; and I, for one, am *very* emotional about space-travel, space exploration, space colonization, the Final Frontier, etc., etc. "Out there...thataway!" -- The Phoenix (Neither Bright, Dark, nor Young) ---"A man should live forever...or die trying." ---"There is no substitute for good manners...except fast reflexes."
cccjack@ucdavis.UUCP (Jack Ogawa) (03/02/86)
> [.....] > > LET'S CHANGE THE NAME OF net.columbia TO net.space.shuttle ! > I think the advantages of this name change far outweigh any claimed dif- > ficulties from such a change. And suggestions that net.challenger is > a fitting memorial or that net.columbia was to honor the first space > shuttle just don't hold any rational water. Even net.enterprise would > have made a more reasonable name than net.columbia. (And it can never > be destroyed in space.) But let's make things right and make it, once > and for all, net.space.shuttle. > -- > Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe I agree. net.space.shuttle is a more fitting name to a news group that concerns itself with the shuttle program in general, rather than any particular shuttle!
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (03/07/86)
> I now support any name that is *not* net.space.shuttle. That > name, compared with the others is essentially sterile, devoid of emotional > content.... And bound to give me finger-cramps ;-)
weemba@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Matthew P. Wiener) (03/16/86)
>> I now support any name that is *not* net.space.shuttle. That >> name, compared with the others is essentially sterile, devoid of emotional >> content.... Actually, there is a slight problem with names other than net.space.shuttle that I haven't seen mentioned before. People post to net.space when they can't figure out where to put shuttle news. I find the only name with much emotional content is net.challenger, and the other names equal in emotional content. ucbvax!brahms!weemba Matthew P Wiener/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720