For an introduction to this thread's chronological posts, please see the first post in the series, for the year 1981. This is the year of the Great Renaming, beginning with the September 1 posting. I doubt I need to add any more preface here, except to note that this is also the year of the first single-group FAQs. For the 1986 through 1989 year-summaries, I've considered it reasonable to track what single-group FAQs I could find; unfortunately, this is no longer reasonably doable for the years 1990 and onward. In the second, somewhat vapourous, stage of this project, I expect to note pretty much all FAQs as part of the hierarchy-summary work. Joe Bernstein Lists of Newsgroups Posted in 1986 GENE SPAFFORD "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 December 1985)" January 1, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2347@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 31 December 1985)" January 1, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2348@gatech.CSNET Added: mod.compilers, mod.sources.doc. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 40 to 42 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 40 (3 inactive) to 42 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 176 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 179 total. 221 (or 218) total (45 or 42 moderated, 176 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 13 January 1986)" January 16, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2424@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 January 1986)" January 16, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2425@gatech.CSNET Added: mod.os.os9, mod.os.unix, mod.techreports. Added, but inactive for lack of a moderator: mod.os. Removed: mod.unix. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 42 to 45 moderated groups (from 3 to 4 inactive), from 42 (3 inactive) to 45 (4 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 176 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 179 total. 224 (or 220) total (48 or 44 moderated, 176 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 13 January 1986)" February 1, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2555@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 30 January 1986)" February 1, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2556@gatech.CSNET No changes. "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 13 February 1986)" February 16, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2720@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 30 January 1986)" February 16, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2721@gatech.CSNET Added: net.lang.c++. Summary: In mod.*, no change: 0 unmoderated groups, 45 moderated groups (4 inactive), 45 (4 inactive) total. In net.*, from 176 to 177 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 179 to 180 total. 225 (or 221) total (48 or 44 moderated, 177 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 19 February 1986)" March 1, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2870@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 19 February 1986)" March 1, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2871@gatech.CSNET Added: net.micro.atari8, net.micro.atari16. Removed: net.micro.atari. Although net.micro.atari had been removed, it remained on the list of gated unmoderated groups for months to come. Summary: In mod.*, no change: 0 unmoderated groups, 45 moderated groups (4 inactive), 45 (4 inactive) total. In net.*, from 177 to 178 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 180 to 181 total. 226 (or 222) total (48 or 44 moderated, 178 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 2 March 1986)" March 2, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2890@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 2 March 1986)" March 2, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 2891@gatech.CSNET Added: mod.mac, mod.mac.binaries, mod.mac.sources. Rendered active by getting a moderator: mod.os. Removed: mod.computers.macintosh. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 45 to 47 moderated groups (from 4 to 3 inactive), from 45 (4 inactive) to 47 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 178 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 181 total. 228 (or 225) total (50 or 47 moderated, 178 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 14 March 1986)" March 16, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 3028@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 2 March 1986)" March 16, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 3029@gatech.CSNET Added: net.sources.d. Summary: In mod.*, no change: 0 unmoderated groups, 47 moderated groups (3 inactive), 47 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 178 to 179 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 181 to 182 total. 223 (or 219) total (50 or 47 moderated, 179 unmoderated). "Checkgroups message" April 1, 1986 net.news.group, net.news.adm Message-ID: 3167@gatech.CSNET This begins a two month period during which Google's archives, derived for this period from the University of Toronto's, include no lists of active newsgroups, nor lists of moderators, nor changes postings about these lists. However, the archives do include checkgroups messages, and the first changes postings after the gap refer to postings within the gap. This leads me to believe that I'm seeing a gap in archive retention, rather than a gap in original posting. Checkgroups messages at this time did not carry moderation flags nor indications of which groups were gatewayed. Thus the only facts that can be documented for these two months from posts of this sort are the bare addition or removal of newsgroups. No changes. "Checkgroups message" April 17, 1986 net.news.group, net.news.adm Message-ID: 3360@gatech.CSNET Added: mod.computers.68k, mod.mag, mod.mag.otherrealms. Since all mod.* groups at this time were moderated, and the first lists of moderators after the gap indicate that these groups were, at that time, moderated, I presume they were so created. There is no basis for guessing whether any of them started out inactive, although none but mod.mag fit the usual pattern for inactive mod.* groups. Removed: net.internat. (It would be restored in the next list. Gene Spafford is on record from around this time as objecting to the group.) Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 47 to 50 moderated groups (from 3 to probably 3 inactive), from 47 to 50 (from 3 to probably 3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 179 to 178 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 182 to 181 total. 231 (or 228) total (53 or 50 moderated, 178 unmoderated). "Checkgroups message" May 3, 1986 net.news.group, net.news.adm Message-ID: 3498@gatech.CSNET Added: net.internat (again). Summary: In mod.*, no change: 0 unmoderated groups, 50 moderated groups (3 inactive), 50 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 178 to 179 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 181 to 182 total. 232 (or 229) total (53 or 50 moderated, 179 unmoderated). "Checkgroups message" May 17, 1986 net.news.group, net.news.adm Message-ID: 3614@gatech.CSNET Added: mod.amiga, mod.amiga.binaries, mod.amiga.sources, mod.computers.masscomp, net.house, net.politics.terror. Again, I assume that all the mod.* groups were created moderated and active. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 50 to 54 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 50 (3 inactive) to 54 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 179 to 181 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 179 to 184 total. 238 (or 235) total (57 or 56 moderated, 181 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 24 May 1986)" June 2, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 3740@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 17 May 1986)" June 2, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 3741@gatech.CSNET Added: net.consumers.house, net.micro.ns32k. Removed: net.house, net.micro.16k. Unmoderated: mod.computers.workstations. (This group could have been removed from the List of Moderators at any time over the preceding two months, of course, but at any rate, it isn't on the June 2nd one. Since it returns on the June 19 list, this is probably an error, not a real change.) Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated groups, from 54 to 53 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 54 (3 inactive) to 54 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, no net change: 181 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 184 total. 238 (or 235) total (56 or 53 moderated, 182 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 19 June 1986)" June 19, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 3915@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 19 June 1986)" June 19, 1986 mod.newslists,net.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 3916@gatech.CSNET Added: mod.announce, mod.announce.newusers, mod.conferences, mod.comp-soc, mod.music.love-hounds. Re-moderated: mod.computers.workstations. This is the first posting to remove net.micro.atari from the list of gatewayed unmoderated newsgroups, and the first to add net.micro.atari8 and net.micro.atari16 to that list. Summary: In mod.*, from 1 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 53 to 59 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 54 (3 inactive) to 59 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, no net change: 181 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 184 total. 243 (or 240) total (62 or 59 moderated, 181 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 27 June 1986)" July 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4035@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 21 June 1986)" July 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4036@gatech.CSNET Removed: net.works. Summary: In mod.*, no change: 0 unmoderated groups, 59 moderated groups (3 inactive), 59 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 181 to 180 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 3 moderated groups, from 184 to 183 total. 242 (or 239) total (62 or 59 moderated, 180 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 13 July 1986)" July 16, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4144@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 July 1986)" July 16, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4145@gatech.CSNET This is the last set of lists before the Great Renaming began; in an intriguing coincidence, it follows by twelve days the oldest surviving post that is arguably a single-group FAQ, "Access to UNIX- related organizations, standards, and publications", by John Quarterman, to mod.std.unix, which he moderated, with message-ID <5248@ut-sally.UUCP>. It's probably worth saying a little about my criteria for saying that. In my book, a document that's meant to be read by the entire net is not a single-group FAQ; this disqualifies most of the periodic postings in what would become news.*, especially, of course, those in any new users' group. Because this chronology is essentially structured around single-group changes, I don't try to track those postings herein. On the other hand, a posting that isn't repeated is also not an FAQ, in my opinion. (In a later year-summary I bend this rule to note an FAQ for a gated newsgroup that was put into the newsgroup's archive without being posted at all.) Finally, a document that fills only a narrow piece of a group's topic space is unlikely to merit my notice. In general, the closer a document comes to the modern ideal of a full FAQ - with copious information, links or other forms of access to stuff not in the document, netiquette stuff, and actual answered questions - the more likely I am to mention it here. I may relax this attitude towards noting all periodic postings, in the second stage of this project, or may not; time will tell. Anyway, Quarterman's document does not take FAQ form - there are no questions - but covers a sizable part of his group's topic space, and was reposted and elaborated for five years. So I think there are good arguments for considering it the first single- group FAQ. Unfortunately, I'm not well equipped to date it; the posting I've cited claims to be a "rewrite and update of an earlier mod.std.unix article", but that earlier article doesn't appear to be at Google. My recollection - unsupported by anything I can find in Google - is that the Standard History of single-group FAQs, on news.groups, holds that the first was Eugene Miya's for sci.space. In subsequent year-summaries I will return to this, but all I want to mention now is that the first *suggestion* of a single-group FAQ preserved at Google, at least the first with the key phrase "frequently asked" in it, appears to be Miya's, but to net.astro, on February 13, 1985: <798@ames.UUCP>. This included a long answer to a single FAQ. It does not seem to have resulted in any periodic posting, however. In general, I'm not noting suggestions of FAQ documents from here on out, except in the context of actual documents that resulted from them; a number of groups, including some rather large and well-respected ones, had a lot more FAQ-suggesters than FAQ-writers in the early years. Added: mod.philosophy, mod.philosophy.tech, mod.psi. Removed: net.announce, net.announce.newusers. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 59 to 62 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 59 to 62 (from 3 to 3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 180 to 180 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 1 moderated groups, from 183 to 181 total. 243 (or 240) total (63 or 60 moderated, 180 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 August 1986)" September 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4437@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 30 August 1986)" September 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4438@gatech.CSNET This list shows that the Great Renaming has begun. It starts small: "First they came for the...". The gap between the July 16 list and this one is a real gap in posting (the changes postings for September 1 indicate that the previous postings were in fact dated July 16). There are two additional gaps before year's end, October 1 and November 16, also real gaps in posting. These gaps, the first in some time, intervene in every stage of the renaming of the net.* groups, and so are spectacularly ill-timed from the historical point of view (although it's perfectly comprehensible that there *would* be delays in routine tasks during the renaming!). Added: mod.music.gaffa, mod.sources.games, talk.bizarre, talk.religion. Removed: mod.music.love-hounds. Since talk.religion was immediately renamed, talk.bizarre is thus indisputably the Big 8 group that has lived longest under the same name, by a matter of several weeks. This strikes me as poetic justice. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 62 to 63 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 62 to 63 (from 3 to 3 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 180 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 181 total. In talk.*, from 0 to 2 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 2 total. 246 (or 243) total (64 or 61 moderated, 182 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 15 September 1986)" September 16, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4543@gatech.CSNET "List of Moderators (Last changed: 15 September 1986)" September 16, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4544@gatech.CSNET This list documents the rest of the creation of talk.*. In the process, it shows the *.misc convention as governing the Big 7 from birth (there's even a renaming of a general group to *.misc in this very list!). A corresponding cosmetic change: While the net.* and mod.* lists retained the hierarchical structure (separate columns for "subgroups") until the end, the Big 7 lists were aligned flush left from the start; since for some time net.* and mod.* shared space in the lists with the Big 7 hierarchies, the upshot is that the lists change appearance halfway through. I'll also note that while multi-line descriptions had been on their way out for a long time (I doubt they ever appeared in the checkgroups messages), I have not yet seen one for any Big 7 group. Trivia note: this list also features the last group to be created in net.*. Added: mod.religion, mod.religion.christian, net.music.makers, talk.abortion, talk.origins, talk.philosophy.misc, talk.politics.misc, talk.politics.theory, talk.religion.misc, talk.rumors. Note that mod.religion would never appear (at all) in the Lists of Moderators, and I therefore count it as an unmoderated group. Removed: talk.religion. Summary: In mod.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated groups, from 63 to 64 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 63 to 65 (from 3 to 3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 180 to 181 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 1 moderated group, from 181 to 182 total. In talk.*, from 2 to 8 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 2 to 8 total. 255 (or 252) total (65 or 62 moderated, 190 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 4 October 1986)" October 16, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4712@gatech.EDU "Changes to List of Moderators" October 16, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 4715@gatech.EDU This list shows the creation of misc.*, sci.*, and soc.*, and the removal of the net.* groups that had been put into talk.*. Added: misc.consumers, misc.consumers.house, misc.headlines, misc.invest, misc.jobs, misc.kids, misc.legal, misc.misc, misc.taxes, misc.text, misc.wanted, sci.astro, sci.bio, sci.crypt, sci.electronics, sci.lang, sci.math, sci.math.stat, sci.math.symbolic, sci.med, sci.misc, sci.physics, sci.research, sci.space, sci.space.shuttle, soc.college, soc.culture.african, soc.culture.celtic, soc.culture.greek, soc.culture.indian, soc.culture.jewish, soc.culture.misc, soc.misc, soc.motss, soc.roots, soc.singles, soc.net-people, soc.women. Removed: net.abortion, net.origins, net.philosophy, net.politics, net.politics.terror, net.politics.theory, net.religion, net.religion.jewish, net.rumor. talk.origins replaces net.origins in the list of gatewayed unmoderated groups. Summary: In misc.*, from 0 to 11 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 11 total. In mod.*, no change: 1 unmoderated group, 64 moderated groups (3 inactive), 65 (3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 181 to 172 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 1 moderated group, from 182 to 173 total. In sci.*, from 0 to 14 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 14 total. In soc.*, from 0 to 13 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 13 total. In talk.*, no change: 8 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 8 total. 284 (or 281) total (65 or 62 moderated, 219 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 October 1986)" November 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 5506@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 31 October 1986)" November 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,net.news.group Message-ID: 5507@gatech.EDU This list shows the creation of comp.* and news.*, along with a single placeholder rec.* group, and shows the removal of the net.* groups that had been placed into misc.*, sci.*, and soc.*. Added: comp.ai, comp.arch, comp.bugs.2bsd, comp.bugs.4bsd, comp.bugs.misc, comp.bugs.sys5, comp.cog-eng, comp.databases, comp.dcom.lans, comp.dcom.modems, comp.edu, comp.emacs, comp.graphics, comp.lang.ada, comp.lang.apl, comp.lang.c, comp.lang.c++, comp.lang.forth, comp.lang.fortran, comp.lang.lisp, comp.lang.misc, comp.lang.modula2, comp.lang.pascal, comp.lang.prolog, comp.lang.smalltalk, comp.lsi, comp.mail.headers, comp.mail.misc, comp.mail.uucp, comp.misc, comp.org.decus, comp.org.usenix, comp.os.cpm, comp.os.eunice, comp.os.misc, comp.periphs, comp.sources.d, comp.sources.wanted, comp.std.internat, comp.sys.amiga, comp.sys.apple, comp.sys.atari.8bit, comp.sys.atari.st, comp.sys.att, comp.sys.cbm, comp.sys.dec, comp.sys.hp, comp.sys.ibm.pc, comp.sys.intel, comp.sys.m6809, comp.sys.m68k, comp.sys.mac, comp.sys.misc, comp.sys.nsc.32k, comp.sys.tandy, comp.sys.ti, comp.terminals, comp.text, comp.unix.questions, comp.unix.wizards, comp.unix.xenix, misc.forsale, news.admin, news.config, news.groups, news.misc, news.newsites, news.software.b, news.software.notes, news.stargate, news.sysadmin, rec.misc. Removed: mod.motss, net.analog, net.astro, net.astro.expert, net.bio, net.college, net.columbia, net.consumers, net.consumers.house, net.crypt, net.followup, net.general, net.invest, net.jobs, net.kids, net.legal, net.math, net.math.stat, net.math.symbolic, net.med, net.misc (but see below), net.motss, net.net-people, net.nlang, net.nlang.africa, net.nlang.celts, net.nlang.greek, net.nlang.india, net.physics, net.religion.christian, net.research, net.roots, net.sci, net.singles, net.social, net.space, net.suicide, net.taxes, net.test, net.wanted, net.wanted.sources, net.women. One of the three lines of net.misc's former description remained in the List of Active Newsgroups, although net.misc was not itself listed. Each of the following list of groups replaces its net.* predecessor in the list of gatewayed unmoderated groups, but in each case, the gateway is flagged to indicate that it isn't certainly known to work: comp.emacs, comp.lang.ada, comp.lang.c, comp.lang.pascal, comp.lang.prolog, comp.mail.headers, comp.os.cpm, comp.sys.atari.8bit, comp.sys.atari.st, comp.sys.misc, comp.terminals, comp.unix.questions, comp.unix.wizards, sci.astro, sci.physics, and sci.space. A similar caution is added concerning the gateway of talk.origins. Summary: In comp.*, from 0 to 61 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 61 total. In misc.*, from 11 to 12 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 11 to 12 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 1 unmoderated group, from 64 to 63 moderated groups (from 3 to 3 inactive), from 65 to 64 (from 3 to 3 inactive) total. In net.*, from 172 to 131 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 1 moderated group, from 173 to 132 total. In news.*, from 0 to 9 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 9 total. In rec.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated group, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 1 total. In sci.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 14 total. In soc.*, no change: 13 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 13 total. In talk.*, no change: 8 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 8 total. 314 (or 311) total (64 or 61 moderated, 250 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 29 November 1986)" December 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 7099@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 29 November 1986)" December 1, 1986 mod.newslists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 7100@gatech.EDU This list shows the real creation of rec.*, and the removal of the net.* groups that had been placed into comp.* and news.*. Added: rec.arts.books, rec.arts.comics, rec.arts.drwho, rec.arts.movies, rec.arts.poems, rec.arts.sf-lovers, rec.arts.startrek, rec.arts.tv, rec.arts.tv.soaps, rec.arts.wobegon, rec.audio, rec.autos, rec.autos.tech, rec.aviation, rec.bicycle, rec.birds, rec.boats, rec.food.cooking, rec.food.drink, rec.food.veg, rec.games.board, rec.games.bridge, rec.games.chess, rec.games.empire, rec.games.frp, rec.games.go, rec.games.hack, rec.games.misc, rec.games.pbm, rec.games.rogue, rec.games.trivia, rec.games.video, rec.gardens, rec.ham-radio, rec.ham-radio.packet, rec.humor, rec.humor.d, rec.mag, rec.motorcycles, rec.music.classical, rec.music.folk, rec.music.gdead, rec.music.makers, rec.music.misc, rec.music.synth, rec.nude, rec.pets, rec.photo, rec.puzzles, rec.railroad, rec.scuba, rec.skiing, rec.skydiving, rec.sport.baseball, rec.sport.basketball, rec.sport.football, rec.sport.hockey, rec.sport.misc, rec.travel, rec.video, rec.woodworking. Removed: mod.legal, mod.test, net.ai, net.arch, net.bugs, net.bugs.2bsd, net.bugs.4bsd, net.bugs.usg, net.bugs.uucp, net.bugs.v7, net.cog-eng, net.cse, net.database, net.dcom, net.decus, net.emacs, net.eunice, net.graphics, net.info-terms, net.internat, net.lan, net.lang, net.lang.ada, net.lang.apl, net.lang.c, net.lang.c++, net.lang.f77, net.lang.forth, net.lang.lisp, net.lang.mod2, net.lang.pascal, net.lang.prolog, net.lang.st80, net.lsi, net.mail, net.mail.headers, net.micro, net.micro.6809, net.micro.68k, net.micro.apple, net.micro.amiga, net.micro.atari8, net.micro.atari16, net.micro.att, net.micro.cbm, net.micro.cpm, net.micro.hp, net.micro.mac, net.micro.ns32k, net.micro.pc, net.micro.ti, net.micro.trs-80, net.news, net.news.adm, net.news.b, net.news.config, net.news.group, net.news.newsite, net.news.notes, net.news.sa, net.news.stargate, net.periphs, net.sources.d, net.text, net.unix, net.unix-wizards, net.usenix. mod.legal and mod.test remained on the List of Moderators despite their removal from the List of Active Newsgroups. Each of the following list of groups replaces its net.* predecessor in the list of gatewayed groups, which is here renamed the list of gatewayed "world" groups ("world" being Spafford's name for what I consistently call the Big 7). In each case, the gateway is flagged to indicate that it isn't certainly known to work: rec.arts.sf-lovers, rec.ham-radio, rec.ham-radio.packet, rec.railroad, rec.video. net.micro.amiga is removed from the list (but comp.sys.amiga is not added); net.lang.forth is replaced by comp.lang.forth without any caution that the gateway may not work. Summary: In comp.*, no change: 61 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 61 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 12 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 1 unmoderated group, from 63 to 61 moderated groups (from 3 to 2 inactive), from 64 (3 inactive) to 62 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, from 131 to 66 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 1 moderated group, from 132 to 67 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. In rec.*, from 1 to 62 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 1 to 62 total. In sci.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 14 total. In soc.*, no change: 13 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 13 total. In talk.*, no change: 8 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 8 total. 309 (or 306) total (63 or 60 moderated, 246 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 10 December 1986)" December 16, 1986 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 7927@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 15 December 1986)" December 16, 1986 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 7928@gatech.EDU This list shows the removal of those net.* groups that had been placed into rec.*, after which net.* was a ghost hierarchy consisting of just five groups whose fate was still being debated. Thus was completed the first stage of the Great Renaming, the renaming of net.*. It also shows the creation of the first, quasi-experimental, Big 7 moderated group, news.lists. And thus was begun the second stage of the Great Renaming, the renaming of mod.*. On December 9, 1986, Clyde T. Poole posted the first "DECUS Questions Answered" post. (Internal evidence strongly suggests it really is the first, though the series of these posts is not fully archived.) This appeared in comp.org.decus and comp.sys.dec and had message-ID <6532@ut-sally.UUCP>. It continued to appear under essentially the same subject line for over five years. Unlike John Quarterman's "Access" post(s), it actually took question and answer format, so a case can be made for seeing this rather than those as the oldest single-group FAQ. Added: news.lists. Removed: mod.mag, mod.movies, net.audio, net.auto, net.auto.tech, net.aviation, net.bicycle, net.books, net.comics, net.cooks, net.cycle, net.games, net.games.board, net.games.chess, net.games.emp, net.games.frp, net.games.go, net.games.hack, net.games.pbm, net.games.rogue, net.games.trivia, net.games.video, net.garden, net.ham-radio, net.ham-radio.packet, net.jokes, net.jokes.d, net.mag, net.movies, net.music, net.music.classical, net.music.folk, net.music.gdead, net.music.makers, net.music.synth, net.pets, net.poems, net.puzzle, net.railroad, net.rec, net.rec.birds, net.rec.boat, net.rec.bridge, net.rec.nude, net.rec.photo, net.rec.scuba, net.rec.ski, net.rec.skydive, net.rec.wood, net.sf-lovers, net.sport, net.sport.baseball, net.sport.football, net.sport.hockey, net.sport.hoops, net.startrek, net.travel, net.tv, net.tv.drwho, net.tv.soaps, net.veg, net.video, net.wines, net.wobegon. mod.legal and mod.test remained on this List of Moderators, despite their official nonexistence (and the lack of a mod.test moderator). Summary: In comp.*, no change: 61 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 61 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 12 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 1 unmoderated group, from 61 to 59 moderated groups (from 2 to 2 inactive), from 62 (2 inactive) to 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, from 66 to 4 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 1 moderated group, from 67 to 5 total. In news.*, from 9 to 9 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated groups, from 9 to 10 total. In rec.*, no change: 62 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 62 total. In sci.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 14 total. In soc.*, no change: 13 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 13 total. In talk.*, no change: 8 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 8 total. 245 (or 243) total (61 or 59 moderated, 184 unmoderated). This is the last newsgroup list/moderator list pair known to me posted in 1986. Annual summary: In comp.*, from 0 to 61 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 61 total. In misc.*, from 0 to 12 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 12 total. In mod.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated group, from 40 to 59 moderated groups (from 3 to 2 inactive), from 40 (3 inactive) to 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, from 176 to 4 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 1 moderated groups, from 179 to 5 total. In news.*, from 0 to 9 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated groups, from 0 to 10 total. In rec.*, from 0 to 62 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 62 total. In sci.*, from 0 to 14 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 14 total. In soc.*, from 0 to 13 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 13 total. In talk.*, from 0 to 8 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 8 total. Total, from 176 to 184 unmoderated groups, from 43 (3 inactive) to 61 (2 inactive) moderated groups, from 219 (or 216) to 245 (or 243) total.