Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!umich!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!texbell!chinacat!bigtex!pmafire!geoff From: geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) Newsgroups: news.groups Subject: Re: Splitting Comp.Sys.Mac again Summary: We need to do it. Here are some thoughts. Message-ID: <1179@pmafire.UUCP> Date: 7 Feb 90 21:58:08 GMT References: <629@ascom.UUCP> <38387@apple.Apple.COM> <1603@umigw.MIAMI.EDU> <38392@apple.Apple.COM> Reply-To: geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) Organization: WINCO Computer Engineering, INEL, Idaho Lines: 160 We definitely need to split comp.sys.mac. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject. chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes: >Here's my first thoughts having gone through the last 30 dayts of >comp.sys.mac. First, to create comp.sys.mac.misc, with the eventual idea of >rmgrouping comp.sys.mac -- this will bring the c.s.m hierarchy into line >with the 'standard' usenet naming scheme. Sounds reasonable. >Other sub-groups that came to mind while trying to sort and identify >messages based on subject lines: > >comp.sys.mac.d -- discussions of mac and apple (editorializing, yelling > about apple warranties, etc). > .forsale -- intuitively obvious, I hope > .futures -- talk about apple futures: System 7.0, Hypercard 2.0, > what apple ought to be doing (as opposed to .d, > where you yell at Apple for what it hasn't done). > .os -- system software discussions > .wanted -- a place to post requests for stuff or information. > .applications -- talk about applications > .inits -- talk about inits > .interface -- talk about the MacOS interface, use/abuse. It seems to me that these various divisions can be put into two categories. ``Practical'' discussions, and ``philosophical'' discussions. Here's how I think Chuq's groups above divide up. Practical Philosophical --------- ------------- .forsale .d .os .futures .wanted .interface .applications .inits >My preferences right now would be: > >comp.sys.mac.misc >comp.sys.mac.d >comp.sys.mac.wanted >comp.sys.mac.futures > >and from there, I'm not sure I care or that it'd be work doing. I think that the .d and .futures could probably be combined, for now, into one ``philosophical'' group. I don't have any great ideas for a name; comp.sys.mac.talk (for talking about the Mac) comes to mind, but that might have the wrong connotation. So, I'd propose creating comp.sys.mac.misc and comp.sys.mac.talk, with the eventual plan of rmgrouping comp.sys.mac. Putting the messages Chuq listed into these two groups gives: > 42 Priority scheme for comp.sys.mac.binaries? .talk > 29 What I'd like to see in the AppleShare of the 90's .talk > 27 Low-Cost Macintosh .talk > 26 MacWorld's Phony Offers .talk > 25 A call for "3D look" (a la Next) interface guidelines from Apple .talk > 17 Macintosh Yellow Pages .misc > 16 Backup Utility Recommendations... .misc > 14 Rolex watch for sale Who knows? A poor guy screws up the Newsgroups: line and starts one of the bigger threads in the group. > 13 Windows 3.0: Coming of age .talk > 12 no 6.0.4 upgarde path .misc > 12 Mac only has 90-day warranty .talk > 12 Hiding background layers in MultiFinder .misc > 11 ShortCut vs. Boomerang: Opinions? .misc > 11 MIP rating for the Mac II .misc > 11 FastPath vs. GatorBox .misc > 11 Don't buy SuperLaserSpool (or anything from SuperMac) .misc > 11 ATM .misc > 10 Text file madness: diagnosis & prescription. .misc > 10 Changing Boot "Welcome" message .misc Hmmm... Maybe c.s.m.talk isn't so bad after all. Most of the more longwinded threads are .talk rather than .misc. As for cross-posting, > 94 comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.mac.programmer This seems to be one of the biggest abuses. Maybe a monthly ``Welcome to the Macintosh newsgroups'' (pun on the default StartUpScreen intended) posting that explains each group and its intended purpose would help? I'd be more than willing to put such a beast together. We could even include a discussion of comp.binaries.mac and answers to some frequently asked questions (``How do I download the binaries'' ``How do I print postscript to disk'' ...). > 71 comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.mac.hardware I'd hope that this will go down as people become more aware of comp.sys.mac.hardware > 43 comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac A flame war that erupted recently. Not the norm. > 13 comp.sys.mac,comp.protocols.appletalk I would guess that this is people with AppleTalk questions that cross-post to c.s.m. ``just in case.'' > 12 comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.mac.hypercard There is little reason for this one. Again, perhaps education could help. >Rumour has it that Larry Wall, author of RN, is a finalist in the race for >the Nobel Peace Prize for his invention of the kill file. Don't forget the `k' key, which more people should press before `F'! -- Geoff Allen \ I don't want to yield to fashion and {uunet|bigtex}!pmafire!geoff \ make the Macintosh as ugly as OS/2 ucdavis!egg-id!pmafire!geoff \ --Jean-Louis Gassee, Apple Computer