Xref: utzoo news.groups:32266 comp.sys.handhelds:7995 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!think.com!mintaka!ai-lab!rice-chex!bson From: bson@rice-chex.ai.mit.edu (Jan Brittenson) Newsgroups: news.groups,comp.sys.handhelds Subject: Re: RFD comp.sys.handelds split Message-ID: <16058@life.ai.mit.edu> Date: 22 May 91 01:00:39 GMT References: <7567@rex.cs.tulane.edu> <1991May20.224156.19428@eecs.nwu.edu> Sender: news@ai.mit.edu Organization: nil Lines: 70 In a posting of [20 May 91 22:41:56 GMT] kaufman@eecs.nwu.edu (Michael L. Kaufman) writes: > In article > matt@physics.berkeley.edu writes: >> Let's take it one step at a time, and see what things are like after >> the hp48 newsgroup is created---I suspect that that will solve most of >> our problems. > The only thing that I would like to add, is that I do not think that > the group should be moderated. I agree. There is absolutely no reason for moderation. Automatic archiving is a very good idea. So is maintaining an FAQ, but this is already being done. There are no deeply entrenched religious factions fighting here. No flame wars, only an occasional acidic comment (a not too recent posting by Alonzo Gariepy comes to mind). > I have been reading comp.sys.handhelds for over a year, and except for > a few requests for asc, As far back as I can remember (i.e. 1986? ;-) ) ...handhelds has been a very polite and friendly newsgroup. As such it is a rare gem, and *hopefully* its traditions will be inherited by ...hp48. --- On a general note: The obvious problem is that HP-48 postings are more voluminous than all other postings combined. Trying to settle this problem by creating ...palmtops and ...calculators is somewhat like trying to settle it by creating all.systems.that.begin.with.an.F and all.other.systems. It's not in response to the problem of too-many-hp48-postings, but rather to the problem let's-reshuffle-the-hierarchy-because-the-name-is-not- obvious-to-me. I find it much less apparent whether HP-48 postings should go to ...palmtops or ...calculators, or both. The problem of ...handhelds is closely associated with a very specific product that's going to be around for many years to come. The `HP-48 Problem' applies not only to MS-DOS handhelds users, but also to calculator users. And it was HP-28 users among others who originally wanted the HP-48 users to have their own newsgroup. My second argument is that there is not enough discussion about MS-DOS handhelds to support a newsgroup of its own, which anyway, if it is ever created, should be called "...msdos", not "...palmtops". Given the current volume there is not a snowball's chance in hell a vote for such a group will succeed. If I didn't know better, I might be inclined to believe that some readers are trying to create their own pet newsgroups by claiming to solve the `HP-48 Problem'! So we split into ...calculators - what happens next? The complaints will still be there - "That damn HP-48 drowns us HP-28 users." Soon there will be calls for yet another split. The question about whether ...handhelds should be split is basically irrelevant to the issue of whether the HP-48 discussion should live in a newsgroup of its own. Let's create ...hp48. Then decide whether ...handhelds needs to be split. My guess is that there will be 25 or so postings per week left. Barely sufficient to warrant a ...handhelds by itself! I can certainly understand the people who think this is a short-sighted solution, and say there will be lots of MS-DOS handhelds users out there in a few years, like there are MS-DOS portables (so-called lapdogs) today. But that's a *separate* issue, to be dealt with *then*, when it arises. -- Jan Brittenson bson@ai.mit.edu