Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version VT1.00C 11/1/84; site vortex.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!vortex!lauren From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) Newsgroups: net.news.group Subject: Re: proposed new structure for `fa' groups Message-ID: <824@vortex.UUCP> Date: Fri, 4-Oct-85 13:05:19 EDT Article-I.D.: vortex.824 Posted: Fri Oct 4 13:05:19 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 5-Oct-85 07:34:19 EDT References: <10523@ucbvax.ARPA> Organization: Vortex Technology, Los Angeles Lines: 32 I must disagree with the proposal to change the fa.* groups to mod.* groups, except as modified (or rather explained) below. BECAUSE... Many sites on Usenet are also linked to sites with other networks (most notably ARPANET/MILNET [DDN]). Users at sites with direct DDN access (or whose sites are in close connection with DDN sites) save a great deal of money for their sites AND THE SITES THAT FEED THEM NETNEWS by taking the ARPA lists DIRECTLY via DDN, and not wasting the time and money to take them in their news feeds. By converting the fa.* groups to mod.groups, you automatically invite additional (Usenet-based) traffic which might not necessarily be gatewayed to the DDN side. This would force DDN users to start taking the entire mod groups via netnews to make sure they got all the traffic from both sides (including Usenet), not just from the DDN side. The impact on phone bills of forcing sites to take the voluminous fa.* traffic by dialup instead of direct DDN could be enormous. The only way I could see to support this proposal would be if no fa.* group is converted to a mod.* group unless ALL Usenet-based traffic in that mod group is going to reliably be gatewayed to DDN. That is, a user receiving the matching list on DDN would see both DDN and Usenet generated messages. This may be an implicit assumption on some users' parts--I'd like to see it made an explicit requirement. Can the persons making the change proposals clarify this point, please? Would we be assured that all Usenet postings to a mod.* group that was formerly an fa.* group would appear on the DDN side as well as the Usenet side? --Lauren--