Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site alice.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!alice!alb
From: alb@alice.UUCP (Adam L. Buchsbaum)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: New Groups -- Why All The Fuss?
Message-ID: <2757@alice.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-May-84 18:50:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: alice.2757
Posted: Thu May 10 18:50:34 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 12-May-84 09:09:46 EDT
References: <1598@brl-vgr.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 16


	``There isn't that much overhead in a news group, is there?''

The following quotation shows that the author either is unaware
of all the past discussion on the topic he brings up or has just
ignored it.  There is overhead in a group.  There can only be
a certain number of groups (511 to be exact; it's the maximum
number of lines in the .newsrc file minus one (for the options
line)).  Also, each additional group in the active file just
makes the linear search of that file take longer.  For small,
unused, dead groups, it isn't worth the extra time.  A directory
is used in the spool area, using up space and an i-node (both
of which are in short supply on my machines).  We now have some
268 groups here (including local ones), and at the rate the
number is growing, 511 is just around the corner.  So lets 
have less of these little dead groups that aren't needed,
huh?