From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npois!cbosgd!mark
Newsgroups: net.followup
Title: Re: mush heads unite -- what good is net.test anyway?
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.2422
Posted: Tue Jun 29 16:46:19 1982
Received: Wed Jun 30 03:53:03 1982
References: pyuxbb.151

Please do not install March Gosnell's fix.  If there is even any HINT
that "all.test" behaves any differently than some other newsgroup,
people will start posting their test messages to some newsgroup that
they are sure IS handled exactly the same way, like net.general.
My experience has been that there is no way to keep people from
posting test messages, and I'd much rather have them flagged by
being in a separate newsgroup so that I, as a user, can turn them off.
We have it good in USENET - on the ARPANET, where there are only
mailing lists, there is no "test" mailing list (who would be on it?
what would it test?) so people mail test messages to real mailing lists.

I do agree that there have probably been entirely too many test messages
posted lately.  I don't know the specifics of any of them, since
they all have cutsie bodies, but I would be willing to bet that
most of them could have gone on either "test" or "to.xxxx" just
as well as "net.test".

I'm thinking of making some recording files to make people understand
what certain newsgroups are for, such as net.general, net.test, net.jokes.
These are probably the most abused newsgroups.  A typical recording
would read:
	net.jokes:
		This newsgroup is for the posting of jokes.  If you want
		to complain that you don't like the joke you just read,
		please send mail to the author.  If you want to discuss
		jokes in general or guidelines for using this newsgroup,
		please use net.jokes.d.  If there is any possibility that
		your joke might offend someone, please use net.jokes.q.
Anyone have any other newsgroups that they feel get abused a lot?
I'm making a whole batch.

	Mark