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From: jpn@teddy.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d,news.groups
Subject: Re: Announcement of unmoderated sources mailing list.
Message-ID: <4073@teddy.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Jun-87 12:30:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: teddy.4073
Posted: Mon Jun  8 12:30:42 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Jun-87 05:12:31 EDT
References: <965@vortex.UUCP> <7946@utzoo.UUCP> <7947@utzoo.UUCP> <248@brandx.rutgers.edu> <677@cidam.me.rmit.oz>
Reply-To: jpn@teddy.UUCP (John P. Nelson)
Organization: GenRad, Inc., Concord, Mass.
Lines: 33
Keywords: unmoderated news
Xref: utgpu comp.sources.d:743 news.groups:894

>In my opinion, all this talk of the need for non-moderated sources group 
>is ridiculous.

It is NOT ridiculous.  Oh, I am all in favor of moderation, WHEN IT
WORKS.  Hell, I was the one who first suggested and implemented the
moderated source group mod.sources!

Let's face it, though.  Moderation has NOT WORKED OUT.  It is difficult
to get sources to a moderator (mail is NOT that reliable), and the
delay caused by a moderator is just a pain in the A**.  comp.sources.unix
(formerly mod.sources) has had major blackouts (months at a time).
These were not due to a lack of submissions, either.  The current
moderator (Rich Salz) is off the net - I don't know when he will be
back.  I'm sure that there are good excuses:  but it points out the
flaws in a (volunteer) moderated system.

The new comp.source.misc moderator, Brandon Allbery, has not had any
of these problems, yet.  But when I hear that he is going to start
trying out all sources before submitting them, well, it is the same
old problem starting up again.  It is NOT just a matter of filtering
out non-source submissions.  Also, a single source submission just took a
week to be posted! (fortune).  I keep hearing about sources that are
"going to be posted" - and I don't SEE them till months later!

Oh, a moderated sources group is worthwhile for production-quality
submissions that don't suffer from month-long publishing delays:  but I
don't think that covers all the useful source code I have recieved from
the net!  I think that a non-moderated source newsgroup is appropriate
because 1.  Mailing to the moderater is not required, and 2.  The
Moderator himself is not required (i.e. no blackouts when he goes on
vacation, or has a heavy workload).

Let's hear it for comp.sources.unmod!