On Sat, Nov 30, 2002 at 08:49:10PM -0500, Gaertk at aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 11/30/2002 5:30:16 PM Eastern Standard > Time, Matthew Hunter <matthew at infodancer.org> writes: > > On Sat, Nov 30, 2002 at 05:19:24PM -0500, Gaertk at aol.com > > wrote: > >> I'd like to point out that Usenet solved all these > >> problems decades ago, as well as several issues that > >> haven't been mentioned here (spoiler protection, quoting > >> styles[1], REAL threading...). ?Speaking just for myself, > >> I would be overjoyed if this discussion were moved to a > >> newsgroup somewhere. > > The problem with that is simple: as a mailing list, this is > > a push medium -- you always get the messages. > This actually is one of the reasons I prefer Usenet. YMV. YMMV. > >?Usenet is a pull medium, has propagation issues, > That's one reason I specifically asked about non-propogating > servers below. Non-propagating servers have their own, major, disadvantages. > > is less widely available, > If you have general internet access and something that works > as a newreader (darn near every web browser has this), then > you shouldn't have any trouble gettting into sff.net's > server. Has anyone tried the link I gave yet? I know it > works for me, but I'm already subscribed to that newsgroup. And then you have to remember to visit the link occasionally. Lots of people don't even know what usenet IS. Usenet was designed to propagate; let the system work. > > and setting up multiple newsservers for multiple groups is > > a nightmare. > I found it fairly trivial to set up in Netscape, and I know > tin can be set up for multiple servers (haven't used any > other newsreaders). Compared to setting up a single newserver, it's annoying. It's not a problem on a small scale -- but I read quite a few newsgroups and mailing lists, and having to use a separate server for each of them would be a horrible pain. > > I wouldn't mind someone putting together the proposal for a > > *real* newsgroup, though -- say, > rec.arts.sf.written.steven-brust? > That would be fine with me, but I believe there's a > considerable amount of work neccessary to create such a group > and get newsfeeds to carry it. A group on a non-propogating > server would only need to have a way of telling people where > to find it. The benefits in terms of available are very significant. > >> Does anyone know what resources are neccessary for a > >> non-propagating newsserver like sff.net has? ?Or better > >> yet, what needs to be done to get Mr. Brust a newsgroup > >> over there (like Patrick and Teresa have[2])? > > Yes -- all you need is a newsserver. > news.sff.net is a publically accessable newsserver. Try it. I have one, thanks. I was answering the question regarding what you need to provide the service yourself -- and that's a server and your choice of software. -- Matthew Hunter (matthew at infodancer.org) Public Key: http://matthew.infodancer.org/public_key.txt Homepage: http://matthew.infodancer.org/index.jsp Politics: http://www.triggerfinger.org/index.jsp