Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!minow From: minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow) Newsgroups: net.news Subject: Re: net overload-- comments and suggestions Message-ID: <49@decvax.UUCP> Date: Fri, 1-Mar-85 18:53:06 EST Article-I.D.: decvax.49 Posted: Fri Mar 1 18:53:06 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 3-Mar-85 03:20:22 EST References: <2404@nsc.UUCP> Lines: 35 May I be permitted to define net.wobegon? I don't subscribe to net.news (and deleted net.followup from the newsgroups as it's busy enough already), so flame to me directly. Please note that I use net.wobegon as a metaphor for all the little-used newsgroups that have a widespread, but very narrowly-focussed readership. Other examples would include net.bugs.uucp and net.lang.forth. Chuki argues in part that the existance of net.wobegon precludes in some way the possibliity of adding a "useful" newsgroup such as net.sources.msdos. Since net.sources.mac and net.sources.games were recently added, this seems unlikely. In both cases, a general-audience newsgroup was split when the number of submissions on a narrowly-focussed topic increased beyond a "background-noise" level. The same thing happened a few years ago to net.music and net.religion. Since, with readnews, you can unsubscribe by a single keystroke, the existance of many groups shouldn't be seen as a problem (unless you try to read everything) -- assuming that discussions stay reasonably localized. This seems to happen for the technical newsgroups (net.lang.c, for example), and works reasonably well for multiple postings to, for example, net.med and net.legal. There are, of course, counter examples: usenet readers probably recall a recent discussion of celtic astronomy that took place in just about every newsgroup EXCEPT net.wobegon. (Another reason to keep it: it gives us a place to hide:-) In summary, if usenet retains non-work-related news groups, there should be a place for a few widespread fanatics to gather without interference from/to the rest of the crowd. Martin Minow decvax!minow