From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!ihnss!ihps3!stolaf!sft
Newsgroups: net.news
Title: Re: Keywords vs. Newsgroups
Article-I.D.: stolaf.390
Posted: Sun Jun 20 23:24:31 1982
Received: Tue Jun 22 03:12:04 1982

--- automatically generated keywords?

For articles as short as most net submissions, automatic generation
of keywords is very unreliable.  I've seen several articles around
the net referring to the "HP 2621", for example, without ever mentioning
the (key)word "terminal".  Manual generation of keywords also allows
us to maintain a common set of keywords throughout the net.  If we
agree that all articles about terminals will be marked with the
keyword "terminal", then I don't have to specify all the other
names for such things (HP 2621, CRT, screen, etc.) to get the
articles I want.  The newsgroup system encourages people to use
an existing newsgroup if their submissions fit into one of the
established categories, and to create a new group when they
don't.  We need to maintain that global organization in any
system.


Whatever system we choose for identifying the first article on a
subject, we still need a better way of handling followups!
Ignoring internals for the moment...

If I choose not to read an article (answer "n" to "More [ynq]?"),
I shouldn't see the followups to that article.  If I do choose to
read the article ("y" or ), I should see the followups.
Of course, we also need commands to turn on/off the followups to
any given article.


Steve Tarr
...!ihnss!ihps3!stolaf!sft
...!harpo!stolaf!sft