Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!milano!bigtex!pmafire!geoff From: geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.announce Subject: About Macintosh Usenet Groups Summary: General Introduction. Last 'real' change October 1. Message-ID: <1990Dec01.083322.19867@pmafire.inel.gov> Date: 1 Dec 90 08:33:22 GMT Expires: 05 Jan 91 08:33:06 GMT Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.misc Organization: WINCO Lines: 253 Approved: by the moderator, posted by geoff@pmafire.uucp Supersedes: <1990Nov01.165835.24296@pmafire.UUCP> [Made some minor editorial changes Nov. 1, 1990. Last real change in content was Oct. 1, 1990.] This is a regular posting providing information about Usenet Macintosh groups. It is designed to help you find the best place to post your Macintosh questions/discussions. A companion posting answers some frequently asked questions. Feel free to send comments, questions, etc. about this posting to uunet!pmafire!geoff. Before going to the group descriptions, let's look at some general points. If You're New to Usenet ----------------------- If you're new to Usenet, be sure to read news.announce.newusers and news.newusers.questions. You'll find lots of valuable information there, along with some friendly folks who can help with the things we all had to learn. Crossposting ------------ You should have little need to crosspost within the Macintosh newsgroups. Try to find the group that most specifically fits your topic and post to it only. If you have a programming question, post it to comp.sys.mac.programmer. Don't crosspost to comp.sys.mac.misc ``just to be sure everyone sees it.'' There are folks reading comp.sys.mac.misc who don't really care about programming the Macintosh, and they shouldn't have to wade through programming discussions. That's why comp.sys.mac.programmer exists. This, of course, applies to the other groups as well. For Sale Postings ----------------- For sale items should be posted to a .forsale group (e.g. misc.forsale, ba.forsale, or, especially, misc.forsale.computers). That's why those groups exist. Also, please limit the distribution of for sale postings. It probably isn't too practical for someone in New Zealand to buy the Mac II you're selling in California! Usenet Macintosh groups ----------------------- There are several newsgroups for discussions related to the Macintosh. Here are group names, along with their ``official'' definitions taken from the monthly ``List of Active Newsgroups'' posted in news.announce.newusers, news.lists, and news.groups. Each of these is followed by a more detailed explanation of the newsgroup. ********** comp.sys.mac Discussions about the Apple Macintosh & Lisa. Don't post here. This group shouldn't even exist on your machine any more. It's history. ********** comp.sys.mac.misc General discussions about the Apple Macintosh. This is the main Macintosh newsgroup. This is where general Macintosh discussions (i.e., those without a specific group) should go. Volume is very high in this group, so please try to do your part by not posting here if a more specific group exists. ********** comp.sys.mac.announce Important notices for Macintosh users. (Moderated) The exact scope of what constitutes an ``important notice for Macintosh users'' has yet to be fully defined. The moderator is Werner Uhrig. Your news software should automatically mail anything posted to this group to him. If it doesn't, you can mail your message to csma@rascal.ics.utexas.edu. ********** comp.sys.mac.apps Discussion of Macintosh applications. If it's an application (and doesn't have another group in which it fits, such as HyperCard in comp.sys.mac.hypercard, programming tools in comp.sys.mac.programmer, and communications programs in comp.sys.mac.comm), this is the place to talk about it. ********** comp.sys.mac.comm Discussion of Macintosh communications. This includes telecommunications and networking. ********** comp.sys.mac.digest Apple Macintosh: info&uses, but no programs. (Moderated) This newsgroup (which is actually a gatewayed mailing list) presents a digest of postings covering all Macintosh topics. It is also the source of information for files available for FTP from sumex-aim.stanford.edu. (See the Frequently Asked Questions posting for information on FTP and alternatives for those not on the Internet.) The moderators' address (in case your news software won't mail your postings for you) is info-mac@sumex-aim.stanford.edu. ********** comp.sys.mac.games Discussions of games on the Macintosh. This one is pretty self-explanatory. ********** comp.sys.mac.hardware Macintosh hardware issues & discussions. This newsgroup is for discussing Macintosh hardware. If you have a question about your ImageWriter or want to know about upgrading the memory in your Mac, this is the place. ********** comp.sys.mac.hypercard The Macintosh Hypercard: info & uses. This one is pretty self-explanatory. If you have a question or comment about HyperCard, it belongs here. By extension, discussions about SuperCard and Plus (two HyperCard-like programs from other vendors) also belong here. ********** comp.sys.mac.programmer Discussion by people programming the Apple Macintosh. This group is for those involved in Macintosh programming. (If your Macintosh programming is in HyperTalk, then you should post to comp.sys.mac.hypercard. Questions and discussions specifically related to writing XCMDs and XFCNs for HyperCard should also go in comp.sys.mac.hypercard.) ********** comp.sys.mac.system Discussions of Macintosh system software. This group is for anything that goes in your system folder (INITs, CDEVs, DAs, etc.) in addition to Macintosh System software (System 6.0.x, System 7.0, Finder, Multifinder, etc.). ********** comp.sys.mac.wanted Postings of "I want XYZ for my Mac." This is the place to post, ``I missed part x of ... on comp.binaries.mac'', ``I need a ...'', or anything else that fits the ``wanted'' label. ********** comp.binaries.mac Encoded Macintosh programs in binary. (Moderated) Macintosh programs in BinHex form appear here. For more information about this newsgroup, see the Frequently Asked Questions posting. The moderator of this group is Roger Long. If your news software doesn't mail your message, you may send it to macintosh@felix.uucp. ********** comp.sources.mac Software for the Apple Macintosh. (Moderated) This group is for text listings of Macintosh source code. It hardly ever sees any traffic. This is because people posting source code usually post StuffIt archives of the actual source files (often along with an executable version of the program for those without compilers). These would then go to comp.binaries.mac. Generally the only things you'll see here are UNIX sources of interest to Macintosh users. The moderator of this group is Roger Long. If your news software doesn't mail your message, you may send it to macintosh@felix.uucp. ********** comp.protocols.appletalk Applebus hardware & software. Questions and discussions relating to AppleTalk (LocalTalk) and Macintosh networking belong here. ********** comp.unix.aux The version of UNIX for Apple Macintosh II computers. If you want to talk about A/UX, this is the place. ********** Other Groups of Interest ------------------------ There are other groups that, while not Macintosh-specific, may be of interest. For example: comp.fonts Typefonts -- design, conversion, use, etc. comp.text Text processing issues and methods. comp.text.desktop Technology & techniques of desktop publishing. These groups would be a better place for desktop publishing discussions, since they exist for just such a purpose. comp.lang.c Discussion about C. comp.lang.pascal Discussion about Pascal. (or .fortran, .c++, .smalltalk, ... You get the idea.) If you have questions or discussions about the language you're programming in rather than a Macintosh-specific programming question, the appropriate comp.lang.* group would be a better place to post. comp.protocols.* groups might be of value of you're doing much communicating between systems. In short, check the list of active newsgroups (posted monthly to news.announce.newusers, news.lists, and news.groups) for newsgroups that might be of interest. Some other examples you might wish to explore include: comp.graphics Computer graphics, art, animation, image processing. comp.graphics.digest Graphics software, hardware, theory, etc. (Moderated) comp.ivideodisc Interactive videodiscs -- uses, potential, etc. comp.lang.postscript The PostScript Page Description Language. comp.laser-printers Laser printers, hardware & software. (Moderated) comp.object Object-oriented programming and languages. comp.os.mach The MACH OS from CMU & other places. comp.os.minix Discussion of Tanenbaum's MINIX system. [These two represent UNIX-like systems available for the Macintosh.] comp.unix.* groups To learn more about the workings of A/UX, or to learn more about the operating system most of us use when we read news. Especially check out comp.unix.questions if you're new to UNIX. comp.windows.misc Various issues about windowing systems. comp.windows.x Discussion about the X Window System. comp.virus Computer viruses & security. (Moderated) -- Geoff Allen uunet!pmafire!geoff geoff@pmafire.inel.gov