Xref: utzoo alt.flame:9647 news.newusers.questions:519
Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bfmny0!tneff
From: tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff)
Newsgroups: alt.flame,news.newusers.questions
Subject: Usenet is not a BBS (was Re: (VERY) Long dead subjects
Message-ID: <14661@bfmny0.UU.NET>
Date: 12 Sep 89 18:39:57 GMT
References: <250D145B.4189@ateng.com> <1989Sep12.124629.27897@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Reply-To: tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET (Tom Neff)
Followup-To: news.newusers.questions
Organization: Workers Re-education Camp 309, John Reed County, CA
Lines: 18
Summary:
Expires:
Sender:

Again, Usenet is not like a BBS, regardless of the intentions of some of
the people who post to it, because of the resource burden involved in
making it happen.  A BBS typically provides a centralized site into
which users *voluntarily* dial to access its message base and
libraries.  The same is true of commercial timesharing services.  So if
frivolity is perpetuated, no one pays except those who choose to do so.
Usenet's flood algorithm, on the other hand, visits the sins of the tiro
upon the willing and unwilling alike.  The only cost effective control
is limiting which newsgroups a site passes; so polluting popular,
practical newsgroups with inappropriate postings is an uncontrollable
form of rudeness.

Many college students have access to BBS's outside of school hours and
facilities, and access to the Net in school.  The temptation to treat
them similarly is understandable but needs to be fought with education.
-- 
Annex Canada now!  We need the room,	\)	Tom Neff
    and who's going to stop us.		(\	tneff@bfmny0.UU.NET