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From: mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.org.usenix,news.groups
Subject: Re: Request for special USENIX Meeting
Message-ID: <718@mcgill-vision.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 30-Mar-87 18:33:16 EST
Article-I.D.: mcgill-v.718
Posted: Mon Mar 30 18:33:16 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Apr-87 19:53:36 EST
References: <1486@hplabsc.UUCP>
Distribution: world
Organization: McGill University, Montreal
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Xref: utgpu comp.org.usenix:103 news.groups:603

In article <1486@hplabsc.UUCP>, taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor) writes:
[ much about how USEnet is being killed by the backbone "cabal",
  full of semantic bludgeons about "personal gain", "ego",
  "exorbitant", "evil spectre", etc. ]

> I really feel that the actual purpose was for the cabal to stretch
> their muscles a little bit - to see if they really could change the
> entire USENET.  And they did.  Frightening.

Of course they did.  They're paying for it, in large part.

Remember that if, say, seismo (or gatech, or decvax, or whoever) gets
too draconian, to the point where their feeds really feel the net would
be better off without them, then they can be cut off.  The same is true
of the backbone in general, but would require agreement among more
sites.  What are you worried about?

> If there is interest I can outline solutions to both the UUCP Mapping
> Project goals and the Stargate project that would involved *zero*
> cost to the end user or an absolute minimal cost

If you can come up with a scheme that involves zero cost to not only
the leaves but also the sites with 10 connections that spend 22 hours a
day on the phone, I'm sure the backbone will swarm all over you with
gratitude.  I'm not kidding, either.

The net still is a democracy (though that really isn't the right word;
what I mean is, real power is still in the hands of everyone).  For
example, when the newsgroup renamings went through I ignored the
rmgroups for all the old newsgroups.  Even now we have 1.1 Mb in net.*
groups (I've been deleting the old groups when they get empty, not
necessarily when the rmgroup comes through).  If anyone who talks to us
also carries net.all, it will be fed around between us and them (and
anyone else who wants to join us).

					der Mouse

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