Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!lll-lcc!lll-winken!uunet!mcvax!hafro!krafla!frisk
From: frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: This newsgroup
Message-ID: <834@krafla.rhi.hi.is>
Date: 31 Mar 89 15:43:27 GMT
Reply-To: frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason)
Organization: University of Iceland (RHI)
Lines: 84

This subject has been discussed here before, but .....

     COMP.SYS.IBM.PC NEEDS TO BE DIVIDED INTO SEVERAL SUBGROUPS !

I think that most readers of this group can agree with me that the traffic
here is a bit too heavy. The question is: Is it possible to find some
isolated topics that should be moved to a subgroop ?

An examination of several hundred articles in this newsgroup gave the
following result:


	Requests for software ("Does somebody have .... ")

 1.1%	    - specific programs/drivers/etc.  
 7.2%	    - "a program that ...."
 0.1%	    - data

	"I need info on..." articles

 2.5%	    - data format
 8.4% 	    - hardware
 2.8% 	    - software  
 1.0%       - articles/dealers/dev. kits etc.

	"Why ABC is better than XYZ" articles

 2.7%	    - editors/compression programs/etc.

	"HELP-ME!!" articles

 7.3%	    - Hardware problems
 9.2% 	    - Hardware questions
 4.8%	    - MS-DOS
 10.6%	    - Software problems
 8.1%	    - Hardware/software problems - "My XYZ program doesn't work with
					    my ABC hardware" etc.

	"I have a story for you" articles

 2.2%	    - Horror stories ("do not do business with these guys"
 0.2%       - Recommendations

 9.8%	Virus -related articles (I hope comp.virus will appear soon).

 2.0%	Announcements/"CALL-FOR-VOTE"/benchmark results/etc.
	  
	"I need recommendations" articles

 2.8%	    - Software
 4.3%	    - Hardware

 1.1%	Sources

 1.4%   Legal issues

 4.2%	Misc. discussion type articles.

the rest is stuff like:

	"Are there any other .... users out there"

	and

	"I have this brand new .... for sale"

So - the most obvious ways to cut down the traffic might be:

	1) Start comp.virus (the voting is going on right now - I think)

	2) Create a subgroup for program/info. requests, where no follow-ups
	   would (normally) be posted. In particular this would mean no
	   "could you please send me a copy .." articles (just Email the
	   original poster)

	3) Keep "For sale" articles out of here. Or at least use a local
	   distribution.

Of course there are other possibilities - any suggestions ?
-- 
         Fridrik Skulason          University of Iceland
         UUCP  frisk@rhi.uucp      BIX  frisk

          Guvf yvar vagragvbanyyl yrsg oynax .................