[comp.sys.mac.misc] About Macintosh Usenet Groups

lewine@dg.dg.com (Don Lewine) (08/02/90)

Why is "About Macintosh Usenet Groups" the only thing ever posted to this list?

francis@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu (RD Francis) (08/02/90)

In article <699@dg.dg.com> uunet!dg!lewine (Don Lewine) writes:
>Why is "About Macintosh Usenet Groups" the only thing ever posted to this list?

I'll assume that "this group" refers to comp.sys.mac.announce -- after
all, csm.misc is where csm.announce follow-ups would logically go, by
default.  csm.announce is designed as a group that any Usenet users
with any interest in the Macintosh will read.  It is intended for
major announcements of interest to anyone interested in the Macintosh.
According to the rules established for the group, those announcements
should be sent their exclusively.  I believe (warning:  this is an
opinion, not a statement of uncontestable fact) that the following
types of messages would apply.

1)  Virus warnings -- confirmed notification of the existence of a new
virus.

2)  Bug alerts -- confirmed notification of a problem with Macintosh
hardware or software.  It is possible that software bugs should only
be reported here if they are system software bugs.

3)  Major, significant changes in the Macintosh itself -- this might
not be product announcements; however, something like the recent
change in Apple's warranty policy would, I would think, apply.

4)  Any significant changes in the Macintosh set of UseNet groups --
for instance, the official notification of the rmgroup on comp.sys.mac
was probably appropriate, as would be calls for discussion and calls
for votes for new Mac groups, or calls for discussion for changes in
the existing status quo in some other fashion (for instance, if
someone thought that csm.games should be moderated (Note:  I picked
that example as a particularly ludicrous and unlikely one, rather than
as a suggestion)).

5)  General information messages for the readers of the csm hierarchy,
such as the welcome message, or posting changes in moderators for
groups, etc.

If more than three csm.announce messages were to come across the net
in any given week, something fairly remarkable should be happening
(again, in my opinion).

Hope this helps clarify the matter.
--
R David Francis   francis@cis.ohio-state.edu