Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site ius2.cs.cmu.edu
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!think!harvard!seismo!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!ius2.cs.cmu.edu!ralphw
From: ralphw@ius2.cs.cmu.edu (Ralph Hyre)
Newsgroups: net.news.group
Subject: Re: New Group Needed
Message-ID: <272@ius2.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Tue, 10-Dec-85 14:49:32 EST
Article-I.D.: ius2.272
Posted: Tue Dec 10 14:49:32 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Dec-85 06:35:38 EST
References: <622@tekigm.UUCP> <9300036@uokvax.UUCP>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 34

In article <9300036@uokvax.UUCP> cdrigney@uokvax.UUCP writes:
>
>/* Written 10:32 pm  Nov 26, 1985 by mark@cbosgd.UUCP in uokvax.UUCP:net.news.group */
>> This is an obvious use of subgroups.  The 520st group should be called
>> net.micro.atari.520st.  net.micro.amiga probably should have been
>> net.micro.cbm.amiga, and net.micro.mac should be net.micro.apple.mac.
>
>ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Those would turn into:
>
>net.micro.atar
>net.micro.cbm.
>net.micro.appl
>
>Please, PLEASE, keep the unique-within-14 characters limit in mind
>when suggesting news group names; look at all the problems when
>the mod.computers and mod.protocols subgroups got all bundled into
>single groups.  I say, if it isn't broke, don't fix it, and especially
>don't break it..

In this case it is software that's apparently broken, USENET can't
keep supporting old software forever, and it's important to have sensible
names for groups

>... - let's try to keep things at 3 levels, no more, PLEASE.

The three level chauvinism will also make USENET harder to use effectively in
the long run.  Subgroups chouls be created where message content calls for it.

Unix supports a fully hierarchical file system, and while an argument could
be made for group names (net, mod, micro, computers, apple) to be unique
within 14 characters (to support old 4.1 filesystems, for example), it is not
practical from a user-interface point of view to arbitrarily limit name
length or content, lest we have newsgroup names that are hard to figure out
as Unix command names.