🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <9002170815.AA18201@caesar.cs.montana.edu> NETNWS-L Netnews List <NET
|However, possibly looking into 'renaming' the groups -- not the lists --
|could be useful, as whole hierarchies of groups could be ignored at will.

If it's decided to rename the groups, I suggest you merge them into
the inet distribtuion of the mainstream 7 news hierarchies.  This
would fit them into the naming scheme used USENET wide.  This scheme
isn't optimal, but it's what most of the users know and has worked
well enough.

The bit hierarchy and the inet distribution are quite similar in the
problems they are trying to solve, as well as the way they work and
are administered.

The nntp-managers list (where inet distribution issues have been
discussed) could help with name selection and review.  I be happy to
coordinate such a renaming (I've been involved in USENET naming
issues since 1982).

If this happens, it probably be wise to set up a new inet-news mailing
list to coordinate the enlarged distribution and let the nntp-mailing
list remain focused on nntp issues.

I've appended some info on the inet distribution.

thanx -len
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From: spaf@cs.purdue.EDU (Gene Spafford)
Newsgroups: news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers
Subject: Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies  (Updated: 16 Feb 1990)
Summary: describes the following alternate hierarchies: alt, bionet, biz,
    clarinet, gnu, inet/ddn, pubnet, unix-pc, u3b, vmsnet
Message-ID: <9735@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Date: 17 Feb 90 05:03:53 GMT
Expires: 18 May 90 05:03:52 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ.
Supersedes: <9708@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>

Original-from: hoptoad!gnu (John Gilmore) and spaf@purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
[Most recent change: 16 Feb 1990 by spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)]

Introduction
------------
The Usenet software allows the support and transport of hierarchies of
newsgroups not part of the "traditional" Usenet through use of the
distribution mechanism. These hierarchies of groups are available to
sites wishing to support them and finding a feed.  In general, these
groups are not carried by the entire network due to their volume, a
restricted sphere of interest, or a different set of administrative
rules and concerns.

In general it is a bad idea to forward these newsgroups to your
neighbors without asking them first; they should only be received at a
site by choice.  Not only is this generally-accepted net etiquette, it
helps to preserve the freedom to do and say as the posters please in
these newsgroups, since the only people who get them are those who
asked to get them.  This freedom is more restricted in the Usenet as a
whole, since every mainstream posting and every mainstream newsgroup
name must be acceptable to a much wider audience than is present in
these hierarchies.   Due to the sheer size of the mainstream Usenet,
extra-long or controversial postings are more likely to cause problems
when posted to the Usenet; however, these alternative hierarchies exist
precisely to support those kinds of postings (if germane to the
hierarchy).

Usually, there is is no restriction on getting these groups as long
as you have the capacity to receive, store, and forward the groups;
2.10.3 or 2.11 news is required to make the distribution mechanism
work properly for these groups.  How to join each distribution is
described below.

Note that the "uunet" service carries all of these hierarchies.
Contact uunet!uunet-request for subscription details.

Also note -- the lists in this article are totally unofficial and
possibly incomplete or inaccurate.  I try to keep the lists up-to-date,
but make no guarantee that any of the information contained corresponds
with the named groups in any significant way.  Corrections and comments
should be mailed directly to me.

..Text.Deleted...

Inet/DDN
--------
Another alternative hierarchy is the "inet/ddn" distribution.  This
consists of many newsgroups bearing names similar to traditional Usenet
groups and corresponding to Arpa discussion lists.  These groups are
circulated using the NNTP transport mechanism amongst sites on the
Internet in an attempt to reduce the number of copies of these groups
flowing through the mail (some sites get these groups via UUCP and
other tranpost mechanisms, but the volume can be substantial and load
may be significant without a high-speed link).  Further details may be
obtained by writing to Erik Fair (fair@ucbarpa.berkeley.edu).

Current inet groups are:

ddn.mgt-bulletin        The DDN Management Bulletin from NIC.DDN.MIL (Moderated)
ddn.newsletter          The DDN Newsletter from NIC.DDN.MIL (Moderated)

..Text.Deleted...

--
Gene Spafford
NSF/Purdue/U of Florida  Software Engineering Research Center,
Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004
Internet:  spaf@cs.purdue.edu   uucp:   ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf
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enjoy -len