Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!steinmetz!vdsvax!barnett From: barnett@vdsvax.steinmetz.UUCP (Bruce G Barnett) Newsgroups: news.misc Subject: Re: Cross posting to unwanted newsgroups Message-ID: <2767@vdsvax.steinmetz.UUCP> Date: Thu, 15-Oct-87 15:49:03 EDT Article-I.D.: vdsvax.2767 Posted: Thu Oct 15 15:49:03 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Oct-87 09:10:59 EDT References: <1651@killer.UUCP> <2700@tekgvs.TEK.COM> <4827@ncoast.UUCP> <1987Oct14.021942.22522@sq.uucp> Reply-To: barnett@steinmetz.UUCP (Bruce G Barnett) Organization: General Electric CRD, Schenectady, NY Lines: 123 in <2701@vdsvax.steinmetz.UUCP> I (Bruce Barnett) wrote: } May I suggest that when more than one newsgroup is in the reply, } the posting program list the newsgroups and the description of each } newsgroup (grep'ing on /usr/lib/news/newsgroup) and then ask the } poster if she/he wants to exclude any newsgroups and/or } request followup's to one primary newsgroup? } } Another idea: perhaps Rev C news, ( or next version of RN) should } stress the idea of primary newsgroup (i.e. the first newsgroup in the } list). I use savenews (aka keepnews) to archive articles, and it only } stores one copy under the first newsgroup on the newsgroup line. In article <1987Oct14.021942.22522@sq.uucp> msb@sq.UUCP (Mark Brader) writes: | |[{...} designates opinions] |Bruce and Brandon suggest that the news software should support the |notion of "primary newsgroup". This is {bad}. If an article is on the |topic of travel to C-speaking countries, it is EQUALLY appropriate for |both rec.travel and comp.lang.c, and so are any followups as long as |they stay on that topic. If the followups only go to one newsgroup, |interested people who don't subscribe to both groups may miss them. As I proposed, I was just suggesting that when there is more than one newsgroup, the poster consider which newsgroup is the most appropriate one. Since news doesn't handle classes of newsgroups, the primary one is simply the first newsgroup on the list of newsgroups. Period. I was suggesting that: 1. The poster think about the article and 2. give a very mild emphasis on the newsgroup where this discussion most likely belongs - if the topic seems to be drifting from one newsgroup to another. 3. Optionally reduce the number of newsgroups 4. Optionally add a followup to the most appropriate newsgroup. Note that I said OPTIONALLY. I never suggested that a followup is MANDATORY, Mark. Unless the newsgroup 'weeding' is easy to the poster, it won't work. I do not have any answers, unfortunately. But in order to stimulate conversation - I will throw up another strawman. ( what a revolting image :-) First - there should be a newsgroup soft limit user when posting a FOLLOWUP article. If the number of newsgroups are greater than N, then the weeding process is executed. (Perhaps this could be user setable, with the default value being 3.) Example: Newsgroups: news.misc,misc.misc,comp.misc,news.groups,news.admin,news.sysadmin The sample interface is: --------------------------------------------- Warning - 3 or more newsgroups in the followup article you posted. The newsgroups you have posted to are: (a) news.misc Discussions of USENET itself. (b) misc.misc Various discussions not fitting in any other group. (c) comp.misc General topics about computers not covered elsewhere. (d) news.groups Discussions and lists of newsgroups. (e) news.sysadmin Comments directed to system administrators. (f) news.admin Comments directed to news administrators. Which newsgroup is the most appropriate newsgroup (a): Newsgroups to eliminate - by letters ( ): Followup responses go to: --------------------------------- End of example The intention is that the poster can specify the newsgroups by the letters or by the actual names. The default reply of changes nothing. But it does make them thing twice about a followup to a large number of groups. ---------------------------------------------------- |Since most news is not archived, the impact of different methods on the |archiving {is} of lesser importance than the impact on normal reading. |Anyway, a sensible archiving system {ought} to handle cross-postings |properly in the first place. Again - changing the order of the newsgroups in the Newsgroups: line has very little impact on someone READING the newsgroup. There is, perhaps, more effort when POSTING with this scheme. The suggestion of the primary newsgroup has two benefits: 1. It makes people think TWICE before posting followups to inappropriate newsgroups. Perhaps news readers could use this too - somehow. Ideas, anyone? 2. It makes archiving of news easier. If you haven't tried to maintain 64686 DIFFERENT articles on a disk that is 98% full, you haven't lived :-). True an INTELLIGENT news archive would be able to tell me when a source program is in rec.music.maker and not *.sources, but I don't have one of those. I do have some 'weed' scripts, but these also take time on my part. I am more likely to start purging newsgroups like rec.* when disk space gets tight. And I agree with Chuq (the author of keepnews) that keeping only one copy of a cross-posted newsgroup (instead of one per EACH newsgroup) is a win. Again - don't knock it till you have tried it - with a disk filled with 200Meg of old news - Searching for that one article in the wrong newsgroup - with the wrong Subject line - that was posted 'about' six months ago. ARRRGH! | |Mark Brader I've always wanted to be a mad scientist! |SoftQuad Inc., Toronto Or perhaps just mad! |utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com -- Robert L. Biddle -- Bruce G. Barnett uunet!steinmetz!barnett