Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ENH.NIST.GOV!JOHNBARNES
From: JOHNBARNES@ENH.NIST.GOV
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Improving this newsgroup
Message-ID: <8912210819.AA06510@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 20 Dec 89 20:25:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 49


The Future of INFO-ATARI16:

There is a movement afoot (althogh not heavily supported) to set up
alternatives to INFO-ATARI16 so that selected users can receive more
coherent information, presumably without all of the flames mixed in.

I oppose the creation of such a service because it would become too
narrowly speciallized.  The Atari marketplace is already a lonely
place for interested users and I do not see any value in allowing the
user community to become even more fragmented.

I believe that what we really need is a couple of good writers and
editors to take material that is of widespread interest an repackage
it into archival publications that wouold have a permanenet home on
one of the archive sites.

If such archival material were to migrate into the hardcopy Atari
press that would be all to the good.  I note that many of the
questions that are asked here (at considerable expense, I might note)
have been answered in the magazines.

I personally find the flow of unrelated information that passes across
my screen from INFO-ATARI16 to be quite interesting because it raises
issues that those of us in the colonial provinces of the Atari world
(yes, the USA appears to be a colony of Europe when it comes to
matters Atari) tend to miss or to solve in isolation.  I would not
like to see the newsgroup become the exclusive province of the
flamers nor would I like to have to hunt all over to get the really
good stuff.

I vote for keeping things the away they are but I would plead for
people to post information that has more content and to point us
toward archival sources of solid technical data.  I would be happyu to
post some tables of contents for the magazine that I am associated
with if anyone is interested.  In recent months I personally have done
lengthy writeups on the Syquest 44 and hard drive backup technology. 
I do not wish to upload these here unless someone has an interest or
unless some has a home for them on a good archive site ("good" meaning
ftp-able, as that is all I understand how to do).

It appears that there is a tendency to post the burning question of
the moment to the net when a little research in a library would yield
a quicker and sounder ouutcome.  Magazines like Current Notes and ST
Informer, and to some extent z-Mag and ST REports, have solid
technical information that is more useful than some of the spur of the
moment responses that get passed around here.  On the other hand I
have found some of the questions raised here a rich source for things
to write about in my magaize efforts to help all Atari users.