Xref: utzoo news.misc:1065 news.config:373
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!rutgers!clyde!watmath!looking!brad
From: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Newsgroups: news.misc,news.config
Subject: Re: Correction - Re: The USENET Backbone (Last changed: 10 December 1987)
Message-ID: <1270@looking.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jan 88 02:20:50 GMT
References: <2802@arthur.cs.purdue.edu> <14191@oddjob.UChicago.EDU> <19509@clyde.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton)
Organization: Looking Glass Software Ltd.
Lines: 26

Actually, the main backbone requirement should be both long haul shipment of
all news.   The number of local feeds isn't really important.

The whole reason "backbone" sites are supposed to have influence is because
they're paying some of the bills to move all this trash around the world.
"circulatory system" or "aorta" might be better terms.

After all, think of it.  Mr. Reid's surveys, though off by a couple of orders
of magnitude, say that 1.4 million dollars is spent every month just to
ship the group "comp.sys.amiga" with its 2.3 megs of traffic.   Of course,
it's not nearly that high, but it is something, and this is what should be
recognized.

(If we could get a more accurate readership survey, I'd be all in favour
of a net rule that required the mandatory rmgroup of the top two groups in
terms of "per reader cost" every month.  We would 'lose' 24 groups a year at
a tremendous saving.  But that's another matter.)

Anyway, the "long haul" requirement was certainly the main one in the early
days.  Perhaps in these days of UUNET and PC-Persuit, it doesn't matter as
much.

(On the suggestion above, certain groups like the "map" group would have to
be exempt, or they would get deleted next month!)
-- 
Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473