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From: karl@triceratops.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.groups
Subject: Re: Call for Discussion: Moderation of news.admin
Message-ID: <22185@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Date: 21 Sep 88 14:27:40 GMT
References:  <3147@utastro.UUCP>
Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
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In-reply-to: werner@utastro.UUCP's message of 21 Sep 88 05:55:50 GMT

werner@utastro.uucp writes:
   I've [suggested moderation of news.admin] several times already;
   given that not that many people read this group, I'd even suggest
   that it should not be put to a vote but simply be decided on by the
   backbone kabal - but they are hiding in their mailing-list and
   don't pay much attention to this group anyway ...

False on two, possibly three, counts.

First, the backbone mailing list hasn't had any traffic in, say, 6
weeks or thereabouts.  Not a thing.  You can't `hide' behind something
which has not had any recognizable existence (recently).

Second, `they' cannot be counted on for a single, collective opinion
about anything.  *I* read news.*; I even try to read at least a
substantial fraction of every single posting except in very rare
circumstances (e.g., empty MES attacks and the like).  A number of
other backbone folks do as well.  There are some who more-or-less
ignore it as a content-free flame-fest [mind you, I am not saying that
their opinion is wrong], but I have no idea if that's even a
substantial fraction, much less if it's a majority.

Third, it is not clear to me that the `backbone' exists in any
definable way at this point, other than as the mailing list alias
@rutgers.edu.  This is largley due to discussion in mid-summer on the
list concerning whether it was `time to kill the backbone.'  This was
initiated by Spaf, and debated among a number of people for a week or
two, and sometime thereafter Spaf made some mechanical changes to the
canonical news.lists postings to remove references to `backbone,'
generally replacing them with `well-connected hosts' or somesuch.

Does the backbone exist?  You tell me.

One could always suggest, of course, that there has been no traffic in
the backbone list for the last several weeks because there's been
nothing in need of being addressed there.

--Karl