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From: caasnsr@nmtsun.nmt.edu (Clifford Adams)
Newsgroups: news.admin,news.misc
Subject: Opinion on a "problem"
Message-ID: <1169@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Date: 22 Sep 88 02:41:54 GMT
Reply-To: caasnsr@nmtsun.nmt.edu (Clifford Adams)
Organization: New Mexico Tech, Socorro NM
Lines: 86


	Some members of a group do X.
	User Y is a member of the group above.

Does not imply:
	User Y does X.


	Some users of Portal post inappropriately.
	User Y is a user of Portal.

Does not imply:
	User Y posts inappropriately.


	Does a user's site have anything to do with the relevance of
the user's articles (individually, not statistically)?

******
	The arguments sound a lot like this:

	"I have been on this net for (months/years) and I don't like
the influence Portal has had on the net.  There have been a lot of
Portal morons who have disobeyed the rules, and have not shown decent
respect for the purpose of the net.  The lousy editors that some
posters use just clutter the net and make it look bad."

	"I think we should just ignore what they say.  Sysadmins can
also install scripts to keep all Portal postings from the users of
their systems.  After all, it is *my* system, and I can keep what I
want on it."

	...Which is very similar to arguments often heard earlier (and
still today)...

	"I have been in this town for years, and I don't like the
influence {ethnics} have had on the town.  There have been a lot of
{ethnic} morons who have disobeyed the rules, and have not shown
decent respect for the traditions of the town.  The shabby homes that
some {ethnics} use just clutter the town and make it look bad."

	"I think we should just ignore what they say.  Local
politicians can keep others from attending meetings of {ethnics}.
After all, it is their job to keep the community looking nice."
******

	There are some users of Portal who detract from USENET.  There
are also some who benefit the net.

	Do you let "From: xxx@cup.portal.com" decide the quality of an
article?

	I definitely favor KILL files for individuals, to "remove" a
troublesome person.  KILLing a group of people based on a few is
counter to many of the dreams of USENET.  Wasn't the Net supposed to
be the "great electronic anarchy", where everyone could speak, without
censorship or repression (at least in alt. groups)?  A community where
all can share ideas, speaking the same language (ASCII), without
arbitrary differences like race or gender.

	A form of racism has come to USENET.  Sites leaving (like
AT&T) will not kill the net.  This form of racism (siteism?) might do
so.  Some people are in favor of creating a ghetto of those sites
which have a few troublesome people.  [The ghetto analogy is
especially apt, as some of the users of Portal are not able to afford
other resources.]  Some people have said that the Portal posters are
making the net a giant BBS (Bulletin Board System).  In fact, it is
the detractors of Portal who are furthering the trend towards a BBS
environment.  These people want to act like the sysadmin of the
USENET, deciding what other people should read.  The net should not be
a matter of a few people's opinions.

	To repeat, I don't really care what goes on in *your own,
individual,* KILL file.  You are free to read what you want.  But for
sysadmins to censor the news, or call for cutting off the feed to
Portal, is not what USENET is about.  I hope that the net will
continue to grow  into a mature electronic community, free from some
of the problems of our current society.  Like racism/siteism.

	Thank you for reading this opinion.

-- 
 Clifford A. Adams  ---  "I understand only inasmuch as I become."
 ForthLisp Project Programmer   (Goal: LISP interpreter in Forth)
 caasnsr@nmtsun.nmt.edu     ...cmcl2!lanl!unm-la!unmvax!nmtsun!caasnsr
 (505) 835-6104 | US Mail: Box 2439 Campus Station / Socorro, NM 87801