Path: utzoo!utstat!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!psuvax1!news
From: flee@shire.cs.psu.edu (Felix Lee)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Descriptive names (Re: suggestion: news.software.c)
Message-ID: <Fxz&jb9@cs.psu.edu>
Date: 2 Jun 90 21:25:45 GMT
References: <1373@yenta.alb.nm.us> <26666DD1.20D7@tct.uucp>
Sender: news@cs.psu.edu (Usenet)
Organization: Penn State Computer Science
Lines: 19

>Consider the novice: "I want to post an article about software written
>in C.  Let's see...  Oh, good!  This one is news.software.c!  It must
>be about C software!"

This is a presentation problem.  The place to fix this is in
newsreader programs.  Use the short newsgroup description whenever
useful.  Institute the concept of a newsgroup charter, store these,
and make them easily accessible on demand.  (This is assuming you
believe in having newsgroups in the first place.)

Names should be evocative, rather than descriptive.  A descriptive
name like "usenet.news-system.software.c-news-by-henry-and-geoff" is
clumsy and only marginally more informative than a short name like
"c-news".

Naming wars occur because noone agrees on exactly what newsgroup names
are for.  They're administrative, informative, hierarchic, and random.
--
Felix Lee	flee@shire.cs.psu.edu	*!psuvax1!flee