Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!seismo!mimsy!mangoe
From: mangoe@mimsy.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.misc,news.groups
Subject: Re: First Time On News
Message-ID: <4388@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Nov-86 22:41:59 EST
Article-I.D.: mimsy.4388
Posted: Fri Nov 21 22:41:59 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 23-Nov-86 03:34:37 EST
References: <7336@utzoo.UUCP>
Organization: University of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Sci.
Lines: 22
Xref: watmath news.misc:52 news.groups:30

Henry Spencer writes: [first he quotes someone else though]
>[regarding putting mod.announce.newusers first in order]
>> And I say that this will benefit at least *some* of the new users of
>> the net.  This will at least help *those* individuals onto the path
>> of net.correctness...

>True.  But it won't get all the new users "automatically", as you suggested
>in your original posting.

>On the contrary.  Most new net users are unaware of the ability to
>unsubscribe, and think that what they get is what's listed in the "options
>-n" line in their .newsrc.  This plus the massive volume of network traffic
>strongly encourages them *not* to just put "all" in that line, which means
>they get only the groups they explicitly select.

Uh, rn doesn't start up that way.  If you just type in "rn", you are
initially subscribed to *everything*.  If you don't want to read everything,
you *have* to learn how to unsubscribe.  Therefore, putting newusers first
is a big win for rn, since they will see it first (and hopefully figure out
that it might be useful).

C. Wingate