Xref: utzoo news.misc:1060 news.config:369
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!noao!mcdsun!mcdchg!clyde!rcj
From: rcj@moss.ATT.COM
Newsgroups: news.misc,news.config
Subject: Re: The USENET Backbone (Last changed: 10 December 1987)
Message-ID: <19508@clyde.ATT.COM>
Date: 2 Jan 88 20:59:09 GMT
References: <2802@arthur.cs.purdue.edu> <14191@oddjob.UChicago.EDU>
Sender: nuucp@clyde.ATT.COM
Reply-To: rcj@moss.UUCP (Curtis Jackson)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Whippany NJ
Lines: 28

}How do you know that there are no sites other than the ones you list
}which exchange all news with two sites that are on the list and which
}run recent news software, maintain reliable mailers and are staffed
}by adept and responsible people?  I have NEVER seen evidence that you
}check for the existence of any.  If, in fact, you don't then your
}so-called backbone is nothing but a club and you should not try to
}pass it off as anything else.
}				Matt Crawford

Good point -- I'd be interested to see the response (e-mail) to your article.
The connections part should be relatively trivial to do, given the
map entries, but the reliable admin portion would be a bit tougher.
I'd be willing to make it a rule that if a given site:

	a) is not a leaf node,
	b) exchanges "all" news (i.e., everything but alt) with
	   at least some N (?2?  ?3?) sites, none of whom is a leaf node

that site should be considered a backbone site and be offered a slot on
the backbone mailing list and all those other secret black ritualistic
things.  To get "kicked out of the club" the site would have to drop below
the required N full feeds; whether this was because of money, time, or
fed sites leaving because the feeder had poor administration is really
not an issue.

The MAD Programmer -- 201-386-6409 (Cornet 232)
alias: Curtis Jackson	...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd allegra ]!moss!rcj
			...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua watmath  ]!clyde!rcj