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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!mhuxl!houxm!homxa!osd7
From: osd7@homxa.UUCP (Orlando Sotomayor-Diaz)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.news.group
Subject: Re: About nuking newsgroups:
Message-ID: <205@homxa.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 19-May-84 09:33:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: homxa.205
Posted: Sat May 19 09:33:45 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 20-May-84 00:25:57 EDT
References: <2789@rabbit.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 37

Are you tired of discussions about new, old, unused, elitist, etc.,
newsgroups?  Well, a week ago rabbit!jj came up with a serious proposal
to upgrade the news software.  Here it is
as extracted from the original article.

> 	Whenever there are no active articles in any given newsgroup
> at any give site, DELETE the directories, etc, for that newsgroup,
> and put the newsgroup name and sequence number in a file called
> "tiredgroups" <or something like that>.  When and if a new article
> comes up, take it OUT of "tiredgroups" and put it back in its usual
> place.  
> 
> If creation or deletion messages go around, fine, just handle them as normal.
> 
> That way, we won't HAVE to delete old [ed. unused] groups, since their only tracks
> will be 30 bytes in one file in /usr/spool.
> 
> In addition, people who introduce groups that die don't cost us all space,
> speed, etc.
> 
> Why insist on human discussion and moderation for this, anyhow, when
> an automatic method could suffice, indeed work better?

I second this proposal and I'm surprised that people haven't stopped to
think about it and comment on it.

One comment, though.  Even if we liberalize the creation of new newsgroups,
letting the 'tiredgroups' file take care of the many unused ones, the
proponent of a new group should at least consult the "LIST OF ACTIVE
NEWSGROUPS" distributed periodically to 'net.news.group'.  No matter how
good the news software is, there is no excuse for not consulting that
list before proposing a new group.

Flames to /dev/null.
-- 
Orlando Sotomayor-Diaz/AT&T Bell Laboratories/201-949-1532
....ihnp4!homxa!osd7  /Crawfords Crnr. Rd., Holmdel, NJ, 07733