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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!bu-cs!hen
From: hen@bu-cs.UUCP (Bill Henneman)
Newsgroups: net.news.group,net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: impending newsgroup cuts
Message-ID: <748@bu-cs.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 5-Nov-85 10:00:58 EST
Article-I.D.: bu-cs.748
Posted: Tue Nov  5 10:00:58 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Nov-85 05:15:04 EST
Organization: Boston Univ Comp. Sci.
Lines: 24
Xref: watmath net.news.group:4313 net.micro.mac:3298

This is probably going to cause incredible flame traffic, but what the
heck.  I would like to see net.xxx.sources stay around, but would like
to propose that the word *sources* be interpreted in the computer
science sense (i.e., stuff that goes into a compiler or assembler), not
the more general common usage: ASCII text only, no binaries.  This would
have three side-effects:

1) the much-discussed concern over abuse of the net by for-profit
shareware posters vanishes;

2) the amount of traffic to the newsgroup declines;

3) the potential for malignant trojan horse practical jokes vanishes (it
hasn't been a problem here, but	it has happened on some BBSs).


This is a compromise solution, and it comes at some cost to the readers
of the net.  Nonetheless, I feel that the restricted sources group would
be of value, and certainly of greater value than having the group vanish
altogether.

					Bill Henneman
					Computer Research Center
					Boston University