Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!lll-winken!uunet!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Scrap the current NG creation procedure, invent a new one
Message-ID: <3635@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 31 Mar 89 11:58:42 GMT
References: <3010@looking.UUCP> <14200002@tippy> <3023@looking.UUCP>
Organization: Xenix Support
Lines: 20

> If usenet were run by some commercial service, I find it hard to believe
> that they would use participatory democracy to decide how to create
> newsgroups, even if they believed in letter the users decide what they
> want on the net.

Usenet is not a commercial service. It's an epiphenomenon produced by
a bunch of co-operating commercial services. The users aren't just paying
peons, they literally own the net. Machine for machine.

And news polls aren't democratic votes. They're more like Neilsen ratings.
Not perfect, but the best we got.

Tell you what, Brad, why don't you set up an alternative hierarchy, like
alt, and use whatever mechanism you want to control it. If it works better
than Usenet people will flock to it.
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.

Business: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180.
Personal: ...!texbell!sugar!peter, peter@sugar.hackercorp.com.