Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu!karl
From: karl@triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: There isn't even a `backbone' alias any more
Message-ID: <22931@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 29 Sep 88 16:09:45 GMT
Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
Lines: 43

I was going to write some mail to the backbone mailing list, to see
what the recipients thereof had to say about Gene's recent comments
concerning `no news admins read news.admin any more,' especially since
I know that *some* do, and I was under the impression that a fair
number do.  I thought I'd make sure that the addresses still work.

[101] [11:51am] tut:/dino0/karl> telnet rutgers.edu smtp
Trying...
Connected to rutgers.edu.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 rutgers.edu Sendmail 5.59/1.15 ready at Thu, 29 Sep 88 11:51:31 EDT
vrfy backbone
250 
quit
221 rutgers.edu closing connection
Connection closed by foreign host.
[102] [11:51am] tut:/dino0/karl> telnet purdue.edu smtp
Trying...
Connected to purdue.edu.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 arthur.cs.purdue.edu Sendmail 5.54/3.16 ready at Thu, 29 Sep 88 10:51:16 EST
vrfy backbone
550 backbone... User unknown: Inappropriate ioctl for device
quit
221 arthur.cs.purdue.edu closing connection
Connection closed by foreign host.
[103] [11:52am] tut:/dino0/karl> 

So much for that idea.  I guess I know why the list has had no traffic
in the last month.

I find it pretty disgusting that managers of heavy-hitting news sites
don't read anything in news.*.  The relevant comment strikes me that
it must be bloody darn hard to manage the news if you don't know what
the news `customers' are doing out there, regardless of whether one
has to wade through a lot of crap to learn those sorts of facts.  I
find it similarly disgusting that the alias itself simply fell off the
face of the earth without (as far as I can recall) any mention that it
would be gone, e.g., `next week, and would someone like to take it
over.'  If it had been offered, *I* would have taken it over, just to
keep the lines of communication open.

--Karl