Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mit-eddie.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!gds From: gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) Newsgroups: net.news.group,net.sources Subject: As long as we are taliking about rmgrouping ... Message-ID: <245@mit-eddie.UUCP> Date: Tue, 29-Oct-85 16:29:11 EST Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.245 Posted: Tue Oct 29 16:29:11 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 30-Oct-85 07:43:59 EST Organization: MIT Lusers and Hosers Inc., Cambridge, Ma. Lines: 58 Xref: watmath net.news.group:4080 net.sources:3748 I propose that we remove net.sources and only allow the posting of sources in mod.sources.* for the following reasons: Net.sources is by far and away the highest volume newsgroup. As such, it occupies the largest bandwidth during news transmission. Net.sources falls prey to the repeated information problem -- too many repostings of old information. Examples: * Please repost hack version 9000 ... * I have a program that prints files backwards, sideways, upside down ... * Here is a sendmail.cf that runs rings around Mars ... * etc., etc. There is no *demonstrated need* for the posting of sources to the whole net. Many sites do not allow their users to play games, so there is no need for those hosts to have the sources to games on their machine. Furthermore, many sites don't even care to see that a new sendmail.cf has been posted (they don't run sendmail). In general, there isn't a need for all the sites to have all the software peole want to post. If someone wants software they should mail the authors for it. Subsequently, mod.sources can be used for the posting of *announcements* of available software. A good example would be the posting of the news sources. The majority of sites are not running the latest version of news, and have no intentions of converting to the newest news when the newest news arrives. They need not be burdened with the news sources typing up their phone lines and occupying their disk space. When they want to upgrade, they can request the news sources by mail. I have had the unfortunate experience of seeing multiple rnews's running because the last one didn't finish before the next one was forked (from the same machine). Some huge posting from net.sources.* was usually the culprit. I've also seen it tie up phone lines and RJE links. If newsgroups like net.flame, net.religion, etc. are going to be rmgrouped, then net.sources.* should go with them. Net.sources.* is just cluttering up the net too much to stay around in its present form. If you want software from someone bad enough, send them mail and use your phones to carry the traffic. If you want to advertise your software bad enough, announce its availability and accept requests for it. But don't subject the rest of the net to software it doesn't want or need to see. To sum up, net.sources.* should be rmgrouped. Mod.sources.* should remain, with stict controls on the content of the group by the moderator. Submitters should be *encouraged strongly* to post requests for or advertisements of software, and only in extreme cases of need should large sources be posted to the net. This goes for the posting of bugs and shareware as well. -- It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under. Greg Skinner (gregbo) {decvax!genrad, allegra, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds gds@mit-eddie.mit.edu