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Posting-Version: version VT1.00C 11/1/84; site vortex.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcs!lsuc!pesnta!amdcad!decwrl!decvax!vortex!lauren
From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein)
Newsgroups: net.news,net.news.group
Subject: too many new groups
Message-ID: <576@vortex.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 24-Feb-85 17:58:22 EST
Article-I.D.: vortex.576
Posted: Sun Feb 24 17:58:22 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 27-Feb-85 09:48:02 EST
Organization: Vortex Technology, Los Angeles
Lines: 20
Xref: utcs net.news:2757 net.news.group:2726

If we keep creating new newsgroups whenever someone finds "more interest
than he/she expected" in a topic, we're going to kill Usenet
faster than really necessary.  For many topics, we find a fairly
small group of people who are interested in the discussion, and a MASSIVE
group of people who couldn't care less.  Yet the netnews goes pretty much
everywhere, regardless of the actual real interest.  For many of the 
topics now being proposed as groups, the use of coordinated mailing 
lists could be far more efficient both in terms of delivery time and costs.

If we gave the matter some thought, we might find that some of the
backbone sites, which have to bear the brunt of mass netnews postings,
might be willing to help support some mailing lists.  These might
obviate the need for new newsgroups being created whenever someone finds
a new collection of people who want to discuss a particular topic.

The current netnews philosophy, which basically amounts to
"send everything, everywhere, and damn the cost" in most cases,
is becoming increasingly self-destructive.

--Lauren--