Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site polaris.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!polaris!herbie From: herbie@polaris.UUCP (Herb Chong) Newsgroups: net.news.group,net.politics Subject: Re: Flirting with Anarchy Message-ID: <261@polaris.UUCP> Date: Fri, 8-Nov-85 19:13:04 EST Article-I.D.: polaris.261 Posted: Fri Nov 8 19:13:04 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 10-Nov-85 16:37:00 EST References: <431@mot.UUCP> Reply-To: herbie@polaris.UUCP (Herb Chong) Distribution: net Organization: IBM TJ Watson RC Lines: 44 Xref: linus net.news.group:3744 net.politics:11238 Summary: In article <431@mot.UUCP> al@mot.UUCP (Al Filipski) writes: >Does the net really need people to keep track of which groups are >supposed to exist and to prune away unauthorized groups? Isn't it >sufficient for each node to decide whether it wants to receive or >transmit each group? only if it's a leaf node. imagine if a backbone site decided to throw away some newsgroups, as henry@utzoo is planning. it is one of the three major gateways into Canada. >It seems like it [the net] all should >take care of itself BY LOCAL ACTIONS ONLY. Why are there directors on the net? >Why do people issue rmgroups to others? Why is it necessary to vote on >things? Does not a node (the entity footing the bill) vote by deciding >what to carry? Has it been found that this kind of anarchy does not work >for the net and some central control is necessary? It is not obvious >to me that it is; but then, I am not one of the old-timers on the net. why are there governments? ideally, there should never need to be one because everyon works with other people to make the world a better place, and if you don't like the world the way it is, you can find yourself a place to make it in your image. unfortunately, the real world doesn't work that way. first, there level of knowledge of people making postings of netiquette is not uniformly high. second, the net is too big to make decisions by a consensus of all the people. third, most of the people don't want to make decisions every second. they have delegated, as we have to our governments, the right to make decisions to people who are supposed to know what is good for us. where they do or not is another question, and how the people who got delegated ended up that way is not entirely clear either, but that's the way it is now, whether you and i like it or not. we are just lucky that most of the powers that be actually have the well-being fo the net in mind. Herb Chong... I'm still user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble.... VNET,BITNET,NETNORTH,EARN: HERBIE AT YKTVMH UUCP: {allegra|cbosgd|cmcl2|decvax|ihnp4|seismo}!philabs!polaris!herbie CSNET: herbie.yktvmh@ibm-sj.csnet ARPA: herbie.yktvmh.ibm-sj.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa ======================================================================== DISCLAIMER: what you just read was produced by pouring lukewarm tea for 42 seconds onto 9 people chained to 6 Ouiji boards.