Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!seismo!lll-crg!ucdavis!ucbvax!ucbarpa!fair
From: fair@ucbarpa.BERKELEY.EDU (Erik E. &)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: Re: spaf's note on fa->mod groups
Message-ID: <10805@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Sat, 26-Oct-85 05:29:52 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.10805
Posted: Sat Oct 26 05:29:52 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Oct-85 07:31:57 EST
References: <9100001@prism.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 37

In article <9100001@prism.UUCP> matt@prism.UUCP writes:
>
>Has anyone considered that the new mod names (mod.computers.*) are not
>significant within the first 14 characters?  This will break sites running
>older versions of news and notes.  Is it too late to request a name
>change?  (Perhaps mod.comp.*?)

The last version of netnews which could not handle names longer than
14 characters was B 2.9. It is four years old at this point. I have
no sympathy for sites that have not as yet updated to AT LEAST B 2.10.
While backward compatability is a goal in new releases of netnews, you
can't expect us to maintain backward compatability forever, especially
if this precludes the use of new features.

As for old notesfiles sites, I consider them in the same light as I do
old netnews sites. A notesfiles site that expects to interact with the
rest of USENET has to be prepared to track the standard and upgrade as
necessary. I don't know exactly when the `alias' feature which handles
long newsgroup names for notesfiles became available in notes, but I
know it was in place when net.religion.christian was created nearly a
year ago, because there was some silly foofrah in net.news.group at the
time.

The network can be viewed as society undergoing evolution, and those
elements of the society that don't adapt to the changes will cease to
be an effective part of that society. (creationists can send their
flames to net.origins)

The software is the basis of this society, and it changes as the nature
of the network changes. It changes to the tune of popular demand, to
fix problems found, and to experiment with new ideas in human
communication by computer. Sites that don't update will eventually be
left in the dust (although at the current pace, this takes years).

	keeper of the network news for ucbvax,

	Erik E. Fair	ucbvax!fair	fair@ucbarpa.BERKELEY.EDU