Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!husc6!ut-sally!seismo!uunet!ukma!david
From: david@ukma.UUCP
Newsgroups: news.config,news.groups,comp.sources.d
Subject: Re: Wanted: net.sources feed (comments -- long)
Message-ID: <6794@g.ms.uky.csnet>
Date: Thu, 11-Jun-87 13:07:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: g.6794
Posted: Thu Jun 11 13:07:09 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Jun-87 03:38:41 EDT
References: <934@maynard.BSW.COM> <15888@gatech.gatech.edu> <10332@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Reply-To: david@ms.uky.csnet (David Herron -- Resident E-mail Hack)
Distribution: world
Organization: U of Kentucky, Mathematical Sciences
Lines: 45
Xref: linus news.config:186 news.groups:948 comp.sources.d:771

In article <10332@decwrl.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes:
>Gene Spafford talks about alternative groups. I'd like to elaborate on what
>he said:

>>Alternative sources groups (or alternative *anything* groups) have a
>>couple of major distinguishing features that some people seem to be
>>overlooking: ...

>1) ...

>2) Alternative groups are currently forced to be second-class citizens.
>   The periodic "checkgroup" messages flush them from time to time on
>   many systems. The mechanisms for moderators do not really support
>   a moderated alternative group.

I've had "alternative" groups here for quite a while.  "ky", "uk",
amd "ukfa" distributions (alternative groups ... same thing).  I've
never had checkgroups ask that I flush these groups.  That even
included the long time when checkgroups was asking me to flush
everything.

I could also set up any of "my" groups as moderated groups, but have
so far lacked the energy to do so.  

Or do you mean alternative groups who happen to be named under
one of the 7 main distribution names.

>3) There is no reason why the alternative groups cannot use the same kind
>   of distribution that the mainstream groups have now: relaying. The
>   use of PC Pursuit and nntp makes it possible to ship alternative groups
>   to many places for not much money. There is no need for alternative
>   networks to be star-shaped, with all news radiating out of a single
>   hub. There can be alternative backbones just as there is an official
>   backbone. Therefore people will not be spending more money per byte on
>   receiving the alternative groups than they will be on receiving official
>   groups.

I agree wholehearedly.  I can help out by providing some use of our
PC-Pursuit and NNTP connection capabilities...

-- 
----- David Herron,  cbosgd!ukma!david, david@UKMA.BITNET, david@ms.uky.csnet
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