[net.followup] World"s Fair

hal (06/04/82)

Move the discussion of the World's Fair to either net.misc or net.followup.
It doesn't belong cluttering up net.general.
                                            Hal Perkins
                                   {vax135|decvax}!cornell!hal

otto (06/05/82)

I disagree with Hal Perkins that discussions of the World's Fair should
be ordered to take place only on net.misc or net.followup.  It's fine
right where it is.  I find the distinction between net.general and net.misc
tenuous at best, and net.followup is just plain silly.

Besides, by what right does he order others around on the net, anyway?

George Otto
Bell Labs, Indian Hill
----------------------

mark (06/06/82)

In reply to Hal Perkins and George Otto:

net.general is there for announcements and queries, NOT DISCUSSIONS!
It was precisely for this reason that net.followup was created.
Unfortunately, many sites still run an old netnews that follows up
net.general to net.general.

net.misc was created for precisely such short term discussions as
the worlds fair.  The discussion should be mvoed there.

Many people out there subscribe to net.general and only a few other
newsgroups, like general, to get important announcements.  They don't
want to see discussions.  Many other people DON'T subscribe to
net.general because they think there is too much drivel on it already.

As a partial solution to this, news 2.7 has a -f option to readnews so
you can say "I don't want any followups".  This should work out better
than net.followup has.

	Mark

otto (06/08/82)

Saying that using net.general for discussions is wrong is very much like
saying that people who use "pristine" to mean virginal are wrong.  Just
because pristine originally meant "former" says little about its current
meaning, which is defined by use not original intent.

Similarly, net.general is being used for general stuff, which is not
too surprising in light of its name.  It is here that topics of interest
are raised, discussed, then fade out or turn into their own newsgroup:
the natural "cocktail party" of the usenet--the first contact new users
have with the inquiring, inventive minds joined together by this medium.
If there is to be a protected group for the issuance of official
announcements, why not make it clear with a name like net.official, or
net.announce ?

George Otto
Bell Labs, Indian Hill
----------------------

cdb (06/10/82)

I agree with ...duke!unc!wm's assessment.  I traveled there from NJ so I guess you could say
I'm even more of a World's Fair freak, but I think it was worth the
trip, for me anyway.  (I did some sightseeing on the way down and
on the way home which added interest to the trip.)  Some nations
presented the energy theme in a more interesting way than others:
for example, China's was quite uninteresting, but there was plenty
of cultural exhibits there to override the boring energy ones.
The US, on the other hand, gave a fascinating "history of energy"
sort of exhibit which reminded me a little of the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington D.C.  The food was surprisingly good
-- I guess I expected typically overpriced and lousy amusement-park
style food, but I was impressed.  I especially enjoyed the Hungarian
Restaurant in the Hungarian Pavilion, where I sought refuge during
a violent thunderstorm.

 To summarize, it was enjoyable and I would have liked to
stay another day, but the best parts were the parts that either
had nothing to do with energy or presented energy in a science-museum
style.