[11743] in APO-L
Re: newsgroups and APO
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (RU@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU)
Fri Mar 24 21:10:23 1995
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 21:08:18 -0500
Reply-To: RU@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU
From: RU@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L%PURCCVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <01HOHSTHZE82HXIZI8@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU>
On Thu, 23 Mar 1995, PASCAL - JIM G wrote:
> Hi all. Is there a newsgroup for alpha phi omega?
Creating a Usenet newsgroup is discussed in an FAQ titled something like
"So, you want to create an alt newsgroup." It can probably be FTP'ed from
rtfm.mit.edu, or you may be able to find it on alt.answers.
This is a rough summary of what I remember of the FAQ, and I could be
wrong. First of all, the two apropro places where an APhiO newsgroup
might want to appear is either in the rec tree or the alt tree. While the
alt tree is slightly easier to push through a new newsgroup, the FAQ
advises against blindly going the alt route for the ease of creation.
One of the first things that the proposer of a new group must do is to
post to {alt|rec}.config and indicate that a newsgroup is being proposed.
Then there is a period of CFD (call for discussion); there is a minimum
amount of time required for the CFD. After the CFD, there must then be a
CFV (call for votes.) The CFD and CFV should be posted to relevant
newgroups where people are likely to be interested in the new newsgroup.
The CFV requires an independant disiniterested party to tally the votes.
There are volunteers who will serve as IVT (indenpendant vote takers;
actually, I'm not too sure of this abbreviation.) Again, there is a
minimum amount of time required for the CFV. For the vote to pass, the
"for" votes must be a certain percentage of all the votes, and I believe
that the for votes must also exceed the nay votes by at least 100 (so 99
for versus 1 against will construe a failed vote.)
If the CFV passes, then a create group message will be sent to news
servers to create the new group. (The FAQ points out that while you may
just fire off a create group command without the requisite CFD/CFV, it
is NOT polite to do so, and administrator will also very quickly followup
with an rmgroup command.) The FAQ futher elaborates on campaigning
ettiquette for or against the newsgroup and other matters.
Final word on creating a Usenet group: it doesn't happen overnight, and
the full process will run many weeks.
Now then, APO-L probably doesn't have enough subsribers to warrent
creating a Usenet newsgroup. A Usenet newsgroup also removes a level of
control over who reads our posts. We can find out generally who is
subscribed to the newsgroup via the listserv REV command; on Usenet, that
control is gone. In extreme cases, Ellen Kranzer can unsubscribe someone;
that is not possible on Usenet.
Hayim, mentioned that Univ Pittsburgh has a newsgroup
Pitt.Alpha.Phi.Omega. In the Usenet sense of the word,
Pitt.Alpha.Phi.Omega is in internal group, and is not accessible by the
outside world. CMU likewise has internal bulletin boards that enjoy only
a campus-wide distribution, and as such does not truly qualify as a
newsgroup per se.
--
...Ru ru@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu (a low-cost superhero)
mcmxcV "It tastes better than it smells."
Make the world a better place
