Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ns-mx!iowasp!deimos!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!chuq
From: chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach)
Newsgroups: news.groups
Subject: Re: soc vs talk (was Re: soc.drugs)
Message-ID: <38453@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 8 Feb 90 15:29:58 GMT
References: <1990Feb8.074349.24094@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: Fictional Reality: where your dreams can come true
Lines: 28

In article <1990Feb8.074349.24094@agate.berkeley.edu>, gsmith@garnet.berkeley.edu (Gene W. Smith) writes:
> In article <38445@apple.Apple.COM>, chuq@Apple (Chuq Von Rospach) writes:

> >It was pragmatic: stuff went into talk because it had a high signal/noise
> >ratio (or it figured to when created).

>   As I rather tiresomely pointed out at the time, this is FALSE.
> It is not true now, and never was true. Stuff went into "soc"
> because the Gurus of the Great Renaming wanted it there, and into
> talk for the same reason. In order to put a veneer of reason over
> it all, it was decreed that soc.singles was "signal" and
> talk.philosophy.misc was "noise". I was there, I remember.

Gene was there. I was one of the designers. It's nice to know Gene knows why
this happened better than the people who were actually doing it.
 
>   I wish people could distinguish between facts and excuses.

Definitely. And I wish people wouldn't explain my thinking for me, too.



-- 

Chuq Von Rospach   <+>   chuq@apple.com   <+>   [This is myself speaking]

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.