For an introduction to this thread's chronological posts, please see the first post in the series, for the year 1981, with Message-ID <3c4a40c1$0$95686$892e7fe2@authen.puce.readfreenews.net>. Although the main lines of 1987 repeated those of 1986 - the Great Renaming was finished this year; moderated groups continued to dominate the new creations for much of the year; the Backbone Cabal remained firmly in control - the cracks did begin to show as well. A number of the mod.* groups were renamed into unmoderated replacements in April or May; the inet distribution (discussed in detail below, under June) and alt.* (not treated in detail at this stage of my research, but created in May) appeared, and "alternative" hierarchies started being "officially" listed in September; beginning in November, "votes" became an official part of newsgroup creation, which for the first time had a documented process. And while these signs of the future were accumulating, the present could also be convulsive; a massive expansion of comp.* in October has the Cabal's signature on it. Despite numerous moments of calm, nothing about 1987 really resembled watching paint dry. Joe Bernstein Lists of Newsgroups Posted in 1987 GENE SPAFFORD "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 December 1986)" January 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 8759@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 29 December 1986)" January 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 8761@gatech.EDU Added: misc.handicap, talk.religion.newage. Removed: mod.vlsi, net.announce.arpa-internet. rec.music.gdead is added to the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups. mod.legal remained on this List of Moderators, despite its official nonexistence, but mod.test was finally removed. Summary: In comp.*, no change: 61 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 61 total. In misc.*, from 12 to 12 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated groups, from 12 to 13 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 1 unmoderated group, from 59 to 58 moderated groups (from 2 to 2 inactive), from 60 (2 inactive) to 59 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, from 4 to 4 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 0 moderated group, from 5 to 4 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 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.*, from 8 to 9 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 8 to 9 total. 245 (or 243) total (60 or 58 moderated, 185 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 14 January 1987)" January 16, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 9771@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 January 1987)" January 16, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 9773@gatech.EDU Added: comp.os.minix, mod.mag.fidonet. comp.lang.modula2 is added to the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups, and the flag indicating that the gateway may not work is removed from rec.railroad. mod.legal remained on this List of Moderators, despite its official nonexistence. Summary: In comp.*, from 61 to 62 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 61 to 62 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 13 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 1 unmoderated group, from 58 to 59 moderated groups (from 2 to 2 inactive), from 59 (2 inactive) to 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 4 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 4 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 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: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 247 (or 245) total (61 or 59 moderated, 186 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 January 1987)" February 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 11062@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 January 1987)" February 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 11064@gatech.EDU No changes. "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 11 February 1987)" February 16, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 12142@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 January 1987)" February 16, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 12144@gatech.EDU Added: comp.windows.x. comp.windows.x is added to the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups. mod.legal remained on this List of Moderators, despite its official nonexistence. Summary: In comp.*, from 62 to 63 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 62 to 63 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 13 total. In mod.*, no change: 1 unmoderated group, 59 moderated groups (2 inactive), 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 4 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 4 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 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: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 248 (or 246) total (61 or 59 moderated, 187 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 26 February 1987)" March 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 13050@gatech.EDU "List of Moderators (Last changed: 26 January 1987)" March 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 13052@gatech.EDU Added: comp.binaries.atari.st, comp.sources.atari.st. comp.os.minix is added to the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups, and the flag indicating that the gateway may not work is removed from comp.emacs. mod.legal remained on this List of Moderators, despite its official nonexistence. Summary: In comp.*, from 63 to 63 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 2 moderated groups, from 63 to 65 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 13 total. In mod.*, no change: 1 unmoderated group, 59 moderated groups (2 inactive), 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 4 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 4 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 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: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 250 (or 248) total (63 or 61 moderated, 187 unmoderated). GENE SPAFFORD AND/OR JEFF FORYS This and the next List of Active Newsgroups were posted with the usual From: header, signature, message-ID, etc., all pointing to Gene Spafford. However, each has a last- modified-by line with an e-mail address which a single post archived in Google identifies as Jeff Forys's. There is no reference in the body of either post to any help from Jeff Forys or anyone else. "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 15 March 1987)" March 16, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 13772@gatech.EDU GENE SPAFFORD The Lists of Moderators do not have any signs at all of changes in who did what. "List of Moderators (Last changed: 15 March 1987)" March 16, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 13774@gatech.EDU Added: comp.bugs.4bsd.ucb-fixes, rec.arts.movies.reviews. mod.legal remained on this List of Moderators, despite its official nonexistence. Summary: In comp.*, from 63 to 63 unmoderated groups, from 2 to 3 moderated groups, from 65 to 66 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 13 total. In mod.*, no change: 1 unmoderated group, 59 moderated groups (2 inactive), 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 4 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 4 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 10 total. In rec.*, from 62 to 62 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated group, from 62 to 63 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: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 252 (or 250) total (65 or 63 moderated, 187 unmoderated). GENE SPAFFORD AND/OR JEFF FORYS "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 March 1987)" April 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 14640@gatech.edu GENE SPAFFORD "List of Moderators (Last changed: 31 March 1987)" April 1, 1987 news.lists,mod.announce.newusers,news.groups Message-ID: 14642@gatech.EDU The additions symbolise what the lists do not make explicit: these are at least the last surviving, and possibly altogether the last, lists from before the renaming and elimination of mod.*. Added: comp.sources.amiga, comp.std.unix. comp.mail.headers is removed from the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups, ironically enough. mod.legal remained on this List of Moderators, despite its official nonexistence. While comp.std.unix is shown as unmoderated on this List of Active Newsgroups, it is listed in this List of Moderators; since it was in fact the renaming target of mod.std.unix, and was listed as moderated in future Lists of Active Newsgroups, I assign the error to this List of Active Newsgroups, and count the group as moderated in the summary. Summary: In comp.*, from 63 to 63 unmoderated groups, from 3 to 5 moderated groups, from 66 to 68 total. In misc.*, no change: 12 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 13 total. In mod.*, no change: 1 unmoderated group, 59 moderated groups (2 inactive), 60 (2 inactive) total. In net.*, no change: 4 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 4 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 10 total. In rec.*, no change: 62 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 63 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: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 254 (or 252) total (67 or 65 moderated, 187 unmoderated). GENE SPAFFORD "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 1 May 1987)" May 3, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15222@gatech.gatech.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 1 May 1987)" May 3, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15224@gatech.gatech.edu These are the lists that show the Great Renaming's conclusion, the renaming of mod.*. I have no evidence as to whether lists for mid-April are missing (the Supersedes: header wasn't yet being used by Spafford); as things are, we see the renaming almost, but not entirely, complete, after the lists of April 1 merely said it would happen "sometime in 1987". One noteworthy aspect of this renaming is the number of groups that were unmoderated in the course of their renaming, the first significant reversal to the trend towards moderation in Usenet in several years. This aspect is slightly obscured by the fact that the mod.* groups being removed were, in most cases, presented as unmoderated in these lists (that is, they neither had "(Moderated)" in their description lines nor had moderators listed in the List of Moderators); but if you compare the totals for the April 1 lists with those for the following, May 17, lists, the change should be fairly clear. The oldest post known to me that appears to be a regularly posted group-specific posting guidelines/netiquette document, Brandon Allbery's "Welcome to comp.sources.misc", first appeared April 28, 1987, with message-ID <2432@ncoast.UUCP>. (This appeared several times in the group in question, then moved to comp.sources.d. While I haven't tried to trace its history thoroughly, I have come across evidence of at least nine postings. I note other examples below, but no other set of posting guidelines this early seem to have been posted as many times.) Added: comp.ai.digest, comp.binaries.amiga, comp.binaries.mac, comp.compilers, comp.dcom.telecom, comp.doc, comp.doc.techreports, comp.graphics.digest, comp.laser-printers, comp.mail.elm, comp.mail.maps, comp.newprod, comp.org.fidonet, comp.os.os9, comp.os.research, comp.os.vms, comp.protocols.appletalk, comp.protocols.kermit, comp.protocols.misc, comp.protocols.tcp-ip, comp.risks, comp.society, comp.sources.bugs, comp.sources.games, comp.sources.mac, comp.sources.misc, comp.sources.unix, comp.std.c, comp.std.misc, comp.std.mumps, comp.sys.apollo, comp.sys.ibm-pc.digest, comp.sys.m68k.pc, comp.sys.mac.digest, comp.sys.masscomp, comp.sys.pyramid, comp.sys.ridge, comp.sys.sequent, comp.sys.sun, comp.sys.workstations, comp.text.desktop, comp.unix, comp.windows.misc, comp.windows.news, misc.psi, news.announce.conferences, news.announce.important, news.announce.newusers, rec.food.recipes, rec.guns, rec.mag.otherrealms, rec.music.gaffa, sci.philosophy.tech, soc.human-nets, soc.politics, soc.politics.arms-d, soc.religion.christian. Removed: mod.amiga.binaries, mod.amiga.sources, mod.computers.sequent. Listed, but only as "obsolete" (and not as moderated): mod.announce, mod.announce.newusers, mod.ai, mod.amiga, mod.compilers, mod.computers, mod.computers.68k, mod.computers.apollo, mod.computers.masscomp, mod.computers.ibm-pc, mod.computers.laser-printers, mod.computers.pyramid, mod.computers.ridge, mod.computers.sun, mod.computers.vax, mod.computers.workstations, mod.conferences, mod.comp-soc, mod.graphics, mod.human-nets, mod.mac, mod.mac.binaries, mod.mac.binaries.sources, mod.mag.fidonet, mod.mag.otherrealms, mod.map, mod.music, mod.music.gaffa, mod.newprod, mod.newslists, mod.os, mod.os.os9, mod.os.unix, mod.philosophy, mod.philosophy.tech, mod.politics, mod.politics.arms-d, mod.protocols, mod.protocols.appletalk, mod.protocols.kermit, mod.protocols.tcp-ip, mod.psi, mod.rec, mod.rec.guns, mod.recipes, mod.religion, mod.religion.christian, mod.risks, mod.sources, mod.sources.doc, mod.sources.games, mod.techreports, mod.telecom, mod.std, mod.std.c, mod.std.mumps, mod.std.unix, net.sources, net.sources.bugs, net.sources.games, net.sources.mac. A group that was never listed on the List of Active Newsgroups, talk.politics.arms-d, appears on the List of Moderators this time with the same moderator as soc.politics.arms-d. I do not count it in the following summary. Summary: In comp.*, from 63 to 73 unmoderated groups, from 5 to 39 moderated groups, from 68 to 112 total. In misc.*, from 12 to 12 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 2 moderated groups, from 13 to 14 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 57 unmoderated groups (from 0 to 57 "obsolete"), from 59 to 0 moderated groups (from 2 to 0 inactive), from 60 (2 inactive, 0 "obsolete") to 57 (0 inactive, 57 "obsolete") total. In net.*, from 4 to 4 unmoderated groups (from 0 to 4 "obsolete"), from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 4 (0 "obsolete") to 4 (4 "obsolete") total. In news.*, from 9 to 9 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 4 moderated groups, from 10 to 13 total. In rec.*, from 62 to 62 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 5 moderated groups, from 63 to 67 total. In sci.*, from 14 to 15 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 14 to 15 total. In soc.*, from 13 to 13 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 4 moderated groups, from 13 to 17 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 308 (or 247) total (54 moderated, 254 or 193 unmoderated). GENE SPAFFORD AND/OR JOHN GILMORE Again, the only sign that this posting was not entirely Gene Spafford's work is the last-modified-by line, which this time explicitly credits John Gilmore. This is repeated with the next postings, after which the postings are once again Gene Spafford's alone, for a considerable period. Amusingly, these lists are almost exactly contemporary with the beginning of alt.* (May 7 according to the Great Renaming FAQ), in which John Gilmore was centrally involved. "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 16 May 1987)" May 17, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15493@gatech.gatech.edu GENE SPAFFORD Again, the change in personnel is not reflected in the moderators lists. "List of Moderators (Last changed: 16 May 1987)" May 17, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15495@gatech.gatech.edu These are the first newsgroup lists, ever, to include no net.* groups; the Great Renaming is here over with. More substantively, the three-way split of misc.jobs shown here may be the first reorganisation, depending on how you define such things. It's interesting to note that despite the general trend at this time towards creating all non-comp.* groups as moderated, and despite the genuinely bad reputation jobs groups have since earned, the misc.jobs.* progeny were in fact created unmoderated. Added: misc.jobs.misc, misc.jobs.offered, misc.jobs.resumes. Removed: mod.announce, mod.announce.newusers, mod.ai, mod.amiga, mod.compilers, mod.computers, mod.computers.68k, mod.computers.apollo, mod.computers.masscomp, mod.computers.ibm-pc, mod.computers.laser-printers, mod.computers.pyramid, mod.computers.ridge, mod.computers.sun, mod.computers.vax, mod.computers.workstations, mod.conferences, mod.comp-soc, mod.graphics, mod.human-nets, mod.mac, mod.mac.binaries, mod.mac.binaries.sources, mod.mag.fidonet, mod.mag.otherrealms, mod.map, mod.music, mod.music.gaffa, mod.newprod, mod.newslists, mod.os, mod.os.os9, mod.os.unix, mod.philosophy, mod.philosophy.tech, mod.politics, mod.politics.arms-d, mod.protocols, mod.protocols.appletalk, mod.protocols.kermit, mod.protocols.tcp-ip, mod.psi, mod.rec, mod.rec.guns, mod.recipes, mod.religion, mod.religion.christian, mod.risks, mod.sources, mod.sources.doc, mod.sources.games, mod.techreports, mod.telecom, mod.std, mod.std.c, mod.std.mumps, mod.std.unix, net.sources, net.sources.bugs, net.sources.games, net.sources.mac. Listed, but only as "defunct": misc.jobs. comp.sources.misc is added to the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups; the flags indicating that the gateways may not work are removed from rec.arts.sf-lovers and sci.physics. Summary: In comp.*, no change: 73 unmoderated groups, 39 moderated groups, 112 total. In misc.*, from 12 to 15 unmoderated groups (from 0 to 1 "defunct"), from 2 to 2 moderated groups, from 14 to 17 total. In mod.*, from 57 to 0 unmoderated groups (from 57 to 0 "obsolete"), from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 57 (57 "obsolete") to 0 (0 "obsolete") total. In net.*, from 4 to 0 unmoderated groups (from 4 to 0 "obsolete"), from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 4 (4 "obsolete") to 0 (0 "obsolete") total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, no change: 62 unmoderated groups, 5 moderated groups, 67 total. In sci.*, no change: 15 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 15 total. In soc.*, no change: 13 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 17 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 250 (or 249) total (54 moderated, 196 or 195 unmoderated). GENE SPAFFORD AND/OR JOHN GILMORE "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 16 May 1987)" June 1, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15768@gatech.gatech.edu GENE SPAFFORD "List of Moderators (Last changed: 31 May 1987)" June 1, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15770@gatech.gatech.edu No changes. BOB WEISSMAN FOLLOWED BY ERIK E. FAIR "New groups coming in without newgroup?" June 4, 1987 news.groups, news.admin Message-ID: 336@acornrc.UUCP "Re: New groups coming in without newgroup?" June 5, 1987 news.groups, news.admin Message-ID: 19249@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU The first discussion known to me of the inet distribution is the thread started by Bob Weissman's post <336@acornrc.UUCP>. I assume there was private discussion somewhere prior to this, but given Erik Fair's history of doing things and then telling people about them only after the fact, I could be wrong. Regardless, in this particular case, he only waited a day to announce what a volley of complaints had already advertised, namely his creation of the inet distribution, whose manifesto is his post <19249@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>. Unfortunately for present purposes, this manifesto *does* indicate that at that point there were 83 inet groups, but does *not* list them. In fact, it would be another six months, as far as I've been able to tell, before Fair would get around to producing a public list of inet groups. The only lists thus far known to me are therefore those contained in complaints, first Bob Weissman's, and later one from Bill Shannon in October. Few groups overlap between these two complaint-lists. During 1987, inet groups were one of the main sources of Big 7 groups. Thus even if I wanted to be picky and say that the inet distribution is separate from the Big 7 or 8 (which was meaningful in 1987 but no longer is), I'd still *have* to research its history in order to deal with the histories of a number of Big 8 groups. That said, given that lists are my main materials for this stage of my work, and there are no lists of inet groups until late in 1987, *for now* I'm confining my research (such as it is) to the lists from Weissman in June, Shannon in October, and Fair in December. All of that said, someone may be wondering what the inet distribution actually *was*. Um. The easy part is "distribution". In the early days of Usenet software, a header was implemented which would restrict posts to those computers that actually wanted them, the Distribution: header. The idea was that this way, if you wanted to advertise for example an event in Chicago, you'd put Distribution: chi, and people in Osaka wouldn't be stuck with your post all the way across the Pacific. This approach, though still implemented in most software, never really worked all that well - people tended not to pay attention to the header, local newsgroups were created that replaced its main function, and servers often grabbed whatever they could get regardless of distribution code. But it provided cover for what Erik Fair wanted to do. He had already been, for some time, the "guardian of the gateway" at Berkeley, the main connection between Usenet newsgroups and ARPAnet mailing lists. (See the year-summary for 1985 and the hierarchy-summary for fa.*, whose renaming into mod.* he spearheaded, that year, in that capacity.) He now conceived the ambition of, I am not making this up, creating a newsgroup for *every* ARPAnet (soon to be Internet) mailing list. And he put each of these newsgroups into the Big 7 hierarchies, rather than some separate hierarchy like the old fa.* (which some gatewayers were still using). His excuse for foisting this on servers all over the world was that if they didn't want the dozens or hundreds of resulting new newsgroups, they didn't have to take them: they could just refuse the inet distribution, because every post injected by the mailing list gateway at Berkeley would have that distribution code. It should be fairly obvious that this did *not* guarantee that inet-refusing servers wouldn't see those newsgroups (people *not* at Berkeley could, and did, post to them without using the inet distribution code), but Fair carried on, more or less obliviously, for several years, steadily less ambitiously, thank God. I'm being, I suppose, excessively harsh here (partly out of my pronounced dislike for Fair based on what I've seen of his posts and actions). The fact is that there are several good things to be said for the inet phenomenon, although it used up the credit long before it finally died. First of all, Fair was entirely correct in asserting that Usenet software is better, and Big 7 hierarchical naming is easier searched, than mailing list software and mailing list non-hierarchical naming. Added to this, there's the fact that Usenet was being archived (albeit not, in 1987, particularly well). Most of what survives of early ARPAnet or Internet mailing lists, as far as I know, was actually archived from Usenet servers; while I haven't researched the situation for these later mailing lists, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if once again, their Usenet (inet) incarnations were much or all of what we have left. Also, as the lists above have already shown, the "official" groups were only being created with *extreme* slowness at this time. inet and alt.*, which was created less than a month earlier, forced the issue of whether "official" Usenet would ever grow again. In fact, if Fair was telling the truth about the number of inet groups he started with, then there's a decent chance that inet groups formed a sizable majority of the total growth shown in the year-end summaries at the end of this post. Of the growth of 101 groups in 1987, obviously the 53 inet groups should be counted here, but the question is how many of the 48 groups added to the "official" list had also started out in inet (which is, after all, missing some 30 groups from the 83 it started with). I suspect the total number of inet groups surviving at the end of 1987, whether as inet groups or "promoted" to the Big 7 proper, exceeded 70, and none of these had existed in 1986. And inet's final major advantage became the fundamental rationale for the explosive growth that in fact followed *in* the "official" list. This point was that if there are enough people subscribed to a mailing list, it's actually more efficient to ship one copy to every computer (Usenet) than one copy to every subscriber (mailing list). The implication - that widespread readership was the best reason to use Usenet - became the core of the "voting" process of newsgroup creation beginning later in 1987. I suppose, in this sense, we do have something better to thank Fair for than the problems that the remaining inet groups caused the Big 8 for over fifteen years. Anyway, on to Bob Weissman's highly incomplete list. Added: comp.lang.postscript, comp.software-eng, comp.protocols.iso, comp.protocols.iso.dev-environ, sci.lang.japan, soc.culture.japan, soc.culture.esperanto. Summary: IN INET, at least 4 comp.* groups, at least one sci.* group, and at least two soc.* groups. (But Erik Fair reported eighty-three groups total, so these numbers are very probably all far too low.) I will not be incorporating inet groups into the regular summaries for 1987, because there's no full list of them available until the year's end. Where I know a group added to the Big 7 to have been an inet group previously, I'll mention the fact, but in most such cases, I don't yet know. It probably wouldn't be unreasonable to assume all groups created later in 1987 to have been inet in origin unless evidence suggests otherwise. GENE SPAFFORD "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 17 June 1987)" June 18, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15933@gatech.gatech.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 17 June 1987)" June 18, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15935@gatech.gatech.edu Added: comp.binaries.ibm.pc, comp.hypercube, rec.humor.spc, sci.med.aids, soc.men. Removed: misc.jobs. The flag indicating that the gateway may not work is removed from rec.ham-radio.packet, in the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups. Summary: In comp.*, from 73 to 73 unmoderated groups, from 39 to 41 moderated groups, from 112 to 114 total. In misc.*, from 15 to 14 unmoderated groups (from 1 to 0 "defunct"), from 2 to 2 moderated groups, from 17 to 16 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, from 62 to 62 unmoderated groups, from 5 to 6 moderated groups, from 67 to 68 total. In sci.*, from 15 to 15 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated group, from 15 to 16 total. In soc.*, from 13 to 14 unmoderated groups, from 4 to 4 moderated groups, from 17 to 18 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 254 total (58 moderated, 196 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 17 June 1987)" July 1, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15992@gatech.gatech.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 17 June 1987)" July 1, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 15994@gatech.gatech.edu No changes, a fact that's all the more surprising given the months left to pass before the next lists. (Gene Spafford was relocating; watch the Message-IDs.) "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 7 September 1987)" September 15, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 1910@arthur.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 7 September 1987)" September 15, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 1912@arthur.cs.purdue.edu The first "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies" post appeared at this time too. It listed five alt.* groups (and noted that total traffic in them was only 10-30 messages per week!) and four unix-pc.* groups. It mentioned inet as part of the "inet/ddn" distribution (I'm not aware of any official link between inet and the Defense Data Network, but I suppose it makes sense that Erik Fair would have been involved with any Usenet gatewaying of the latter network, whose ancestry, like inet's, lay in the ARPAnet). If you want to find it at Google, its Message-ID is <1909@arthur.cs.purdue.edu>. The "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies" posts continued, usually monthly, for nine years. It's my impression that they fairly consistently lagged behind actual newsgroup creation in alt.* (I don't know about other hierarchies). I'm not tracking this series of posts' progress in detail at this stage, partly because of the unreliability created by the lags, and partly because most of the hierarchies it covered aren't within my purview. The exception is that usually, though not in 1987, these posts provided the most usable lists of inet groups, for which purpose I will use them. I'll also provide as much of a summary as I have the patience for at the date of each year's final posting (in 1987, this was December 2, below). I will obviously not list every alt.* group added to this list hereafter - before this post died, it expanded to thousands of lines, mostly in alt.* - but will note the first appearance of a noteworthy group or sub-hierarchy in alt.*, or of a hierarchy elsewhere in the list. I'm not now researching when such groups (etc.) were actually created, and I may never do so. The alt.* groups listed this first time were alt.config, alt.drugs, alt.gourmand (the real renaming of mod.recipes), alt.sources, and alt.test. Several more groups seem to have begun getting regularly posted posting guidelines specific to those groups over the summer of 1987, but only one would last. Brandon Allbery posted on July 4 a "Welcome to comp.binaries.ibm.pc" post that was repeated August 1, but in that post he also reported that he would be retiring, which is presumably why the series didn't continue. On July 24, Miriam Nadel posted "Guidelines for Posting to Soc.women (Draft)"; however, while another draft appeared in August, this doesn't seem to have resulted in a lasting series of posts. But on August 10, Rich Salz posted "Introduction to comp.sources.unix", and this seems to have appeared fairly regularly until 1995. I only know of one new FAQ, in the narrower sense of a content- rather than guidelines-oriented post, originating in 1987. Its first attestation actually dates to December 29, but refers to the document having been posted "since summer", so I'll mention it here. This is a post by James Armstrong, handle The Prime Minister, to news.misc, message-ID <2289@terminus.UUCP>, in which he refers to an FAQ among other periodic postings to rec.arts.drwho. Unfortunately, rec.arts.drwho is not archived at Google before mid-December, 1989, and no copies of the FAQ material older than 1990 seem to survive; by that time, there were nearly a dozen periodic postings to the group exfoliated from this starting point. Some later versions of the core FAQ do credit Armstrong and date his work to 1987, so I do feel comfortable in taking his word for what he'd been doing. Brad Templeton, the first moderator of rec.humor.funny, has been known to insist that rec.humor.funny was created unofficially, without a vote, and in general without the approval of the Powers That Be. Whatever the truth of this claim in general, note that it *was* already listed on the official list before voting had become the norm; there was nothing distinctive about rec.humor.funny not being voted on. Added: rec.arts.int-fiction, rec.humor.funny. Unmoderated in place: comp.mail.elm. Summary: In comp.*, from 73 to 74 unmoderated groups, from 41 to 40 moderated groups, from 114 to 114 total. In misc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 2 moderated groups, 16 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, from 62 to 63 unmoderated groups, from 6 to 7 moderated groups, from 68 to 70 total. In sci.*, no change: 15 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 16 total. In soc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 18 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 256 total (58 moderated, 198 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 30 September 1987)" October 1, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 1986@arthur.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 23 September 1987)" October 1, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 1988@arthur.cs.purdue.edu Added: comp.unix.ultrix, rec.music.beatles. In the "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies" post, message-ID 1985@arthur.cs.purdue.edu, a noteworthy addition to alt.*: alt.flame. Noteworthy newly-listed hierarchy: bionet.*, run by Rob Liebschutz. Summary: In comp.*, from 74 to 74 unmoderated groups, from 40 to 41 moderated groups, from 114 to 115 total. In misc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 2 moderated groups, 16 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, from 63 to 64 unmoderated groups, from 7 to 7 moderated groups, from 70 to 71 total. In sci.*, no change: 15 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 16 total. In soc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 18 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 258 total (59 moderated, 199 unmoderated). BILL SHANNON "new newsgroups?" October 7, 1987 news.sysadmin, news.groups Message-ID: 30206@sun.uucp This is a post complaining about groups that no checkgroups had advertised, and asking whether a bunch of newgroups hadn't made it to Shannon's server. This is a possible explanation, but I think it more likely that the groups in question were inet groups. The catch is that nine of the nineteen groups he listed were in fact shown as "official" on the next List of Active Newsgroups. I don't know whether his complaint simply happened to coincide with the first major episode of "promoting" inet groups en masse, or he really did miss a batch of newgroups, or both. One of the groups made "official" nine days later, however, was also on the earlier list provided by Bob Weissman, so was pretty certainly really an inet group; of the ten groups *not* made "official" nine days later, the nine that survived to the full lists of inet groups were still inet; so I really think the others probably were too. (The one stillborn group was comp.sys.ibm!) Added: comp.ai.neural-nets, comp.editors, comp.edu.composition, comp.lang.icon, comp.lang.scheme, comp.periphs.printers, comp.sys.dec.micro, comp.sys.encore, comp.sys.ibm, comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt, comp.sys.sgi, comp.sys.transputer, comp.sys.xerox, comp.sys.zenith, comp.sys.zenith.z100, comp.theory, comp.theory.cell-automata. Summary: IN INET, probably at least 21 comp.* groups, at least one sci.* group, and at least two soc.* groups. (Again, these numbers are very probably all far too low.) GENE SPAFFORD "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 13 October 1987)" October 16, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2055@arthur.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 October 1987)" October 16, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2057@arthur.cs.purdue.edu Added: comp.ai.nlang-know-rep, comp.mail.mh, comp.os.xinu, comp.protocols.ibm, comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc, comp.society.futures, comp.sys.celerity, comp.sys.proteon, comp.sys.tahoe, comp.theory.info-retrieval, misc.security, rec.equestrian, rec.games.programmer. Added probably or certainly by promotion from inet: comp.ai.neural-nets, comp.lang.postscript, comp.lang.scheme, comp.protocols.iso, comp.software-eng, comp.sys.dec.micro, comp.sys.encore, comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt, comp.sys.sgi, comp.sys.transputer, comp.sys.xerox, comp.sys.zenith.z100, sci.lang.japan, soc.culture.japan. Summary: In comp.*, from 74 to 94 unmoderated groups, from 41 to 43 moderated groups, from 115 to 137 total. In misc.*, from 14 to 14 unmoderated groups, from 2 to 3 moderated groups, from 16 to 17 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, from 64 to 66 unmoderated groups, from 7 to 7 moderated groups, from 71 to 73 total. In sci.*, from 15 to 16 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 1 moderated group, from 16 to 17 total. In soc.*, from 14 to 15 unmoderated groups, from 4 to 4 moderated groups, from 18 to 19 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 285 total (62 moderated, 223 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 31 October 1987)" November 2, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2184@arthur.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 31 October 1987)" November 2, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2186@arthur.cs.purdue.edu These lists show the calm between storms. The comp.* newsgroup creation festival of the previous lists was, in a sense, the Backbone Cabal's last hurrah, because also on November 2, Gene Spafford posted a newsgroup creation process (Message-ID: <2177@arthur.cs.purdue.edu>) in which the "votes" of users once again counted for something, as they had, much less formally, before the Cabal took over. But that process itself required time to complete, so these lists don't yet show creations done that way. The Cabal in fact gave up no real power - Spafford pointed out that while anyone could send a newgroup, only he, Erik Fair, Rick Adams, Mark Horton, and Greg Woods were really trusted, and he also wrote that the Backbone admins could override a vote result. But from this point forward, the Cabal was identified with rules, which it had to pay at least some degree of heed; the ballot box might be stuffed or overruled but could not be dispensed with. Added: comp.sys.mac.hypercard. Summary: In comp.*, from 94 to 95 unmoderated groups, from 43 to 43 moderated groups, from 137 to 138 total. In misc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 17 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, no change: 66 unmoderated groups, 7 moderated groups, 73 total. In sci.*, no change: 16 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 17 total. In soc.*, no change: 15 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 19 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 286 total (62 moderated, 224 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 16 November 1987)" November 16, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2320@arthur.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 13 November 1987)" November 16, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2322@arthur.cs.purdue.edu Added: rec.arts.anime, rec.models.rc, soc.culture.china. Unmoderated in place: comp.binaries.ibm.pc, believe it or not. (This would not be permanent; a search for a moderator was in progress.) Summary: In comp.*, from 95 to 96 unmoderated groups, from 43 to 42 moderated groups, from 138 to 138 total. In misc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 17 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, from 66 to 68 unmoderated groups, from 7 to 7 moderated groups, from 73 to 75 total. In sci.*, no change: 16 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 17 total. In soc.*, from 15 to 16 unmoderated groups, from 4 to 4 moderated groups, from 19 to 20 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 289 total (61 moderated, 228 unmoderated). "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 29 November 1987)" December 2, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 117@uther.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 29 November 1987)" December 2, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 119@uther.cs.purdue.edu Added: comp.unix.microport. comp.sys.tahoe is added to the list of gatewayed Big 7 groups. In the "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies" post, message-ID 116@uther.cs.purdue.edu, a noteworthy addition to alt.*: alt.aquaria. Summary: In comp.*, from 96 to 96 unmoderated groups, from 42 to 43 moderated groups, from 138 to 139 total. In misc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 17 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, no change: 68 unmoderated groups, 7 moderated groups, 75 total. In sci.*, no change: 16 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 17 total. In soc.*, no change: 16 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 20 total. In talk.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 9 total. 290 total (62 moderated, 228 unmoderated). This is the date of the last "Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies" of the year. It includes nine alt.* groups, sixteen bionet.* groups, four unix-pc.* groups, and a note about "inet/ddn". "List of Active Newsgroups (Last changed: 12 December 1987)" December 16, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2704@arthur.cs.purdue.edu "List of Moderators (Last changed: 10 December 1987)" December 16, 1987 news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers Message-ID: 2706@arthur.cs.purdue.edu Added: talk.politics.mideast. Summary: In comp.*, no change: 96 unmoderated groups, 43 moderated groups, 139 total. In misc.*, no change: 14 unmoderated groups, 3 moderated groups, 17 total. In news.*, no change: 9 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 13 total. In rec.*, no change: 68 unmoderated groups, 7 moderated groups, 75 total. In sci.*, no change: 16 unmoderated groups, 1 moderated group, 17 total. In soc.*, no change: 16 unmoderated groups, 4 moderated groups, 20 total. In talk.*, from 9 to 10 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 9 to 10 total. 291 total (62 moderated, 229 unmoderated). This is the last newsgroup list/moderator list pair known to me posted in 1987. But there's one more thing to come. ERIK E. FAIR "Re: inet newsgroups" December 22, 1987 news.admin,news.groups,news.misc Message-ID: 22274@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU "Summary: here is ucbvax's mailing list gateway list". For each line, the type of gateway (unidirectional, bidirectional, or moderated) is indicated, then the mailing list, the newsgroup, and the distribution code. This is, thus, effectively the first list of inet groups, but of course it isn't *restricted* to inet groups; a list of that sort would amount to a confession that such lists should have been provided six months earlier... Interestingly, Fair's assertions about which groups were inet and which weren't disagree, for three groups, with those made by Gene Spafford in the lists Spafford would thereafter post of both regular Big 7 and inet groups. The flipside of that is that Fair's list is, all things considered, probably a much more reliable list of gateways than the one Gene Spafford included in the List of Active Newsgroups. This would, I think, be true even if (as I expect) Fair's list was incomplete because ucbvax was not the only gateway. It's amusing that Spafford did *not* take the opportunity to clean up his list, which soldiered on in its chaotic state for years more. I am, therefore, reproducing the essentials of Fair's list here, but with the warning that there is *not* consistency with Spafford's lists, whether for better or for worse; the differences are indicated below. Moderated gateways with world (Big 7) distribution: comp.ai.digest, comp.ai.nlang-know-rep, comp.bugs.4bsd.ucb-fixes, comp.dcom.telecom, comp.doc.techreports, comp.graphics.digest, comp.laser-printers, comp.protocols.kermit, comp.risks, comp.sys.ibm.pc.digest, comp.sys.m68k.pc, comp.sys.mac.digest, comp.sys.sun, comp.sys.workstations, comp.theory.info-retrieval, misc.security, rec.music.gaffa, soc.human-nets, soc.politics, soc.politics.arms-d. Bidirectional gateways with world (Big 7) distribution: comp.ai.neural-nets, comp.dcom.modems, comp.emacs**, comp.lang.ada*, comp.lang.forth**, comp.lang.modula2**, comp.lang.postscript, comp.lang.prolog*, comp.lang.scheme, comp.lsi, comp.mail.mh, comp.os.cpm**, comp.os.vms, comp.os.xinu, comp.protocols.appletalk, comp.protocols.ibm, comp.protocols.iso, comp.protocols.misc, comp.protocols.tcp-ip, comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc, comp.society.futures, comp.software-eng, comp.sys.apollo, comp.sys.apple, comp.sys.atari.8bit*, comp.sys.atari.st*, comp.sys.celerity, comp.sys.dec.micro, comp.sys.encore, comp.sys.ibm.pc.rt, comp.sys.proteon, comp.sys.pyramid, comp.sys.ridge, comp.sys.sgi, comp.sys.tahoe**, comp.sys.transputer, comp.sys.xerox, comp.sys.zenith.z100, comp.terminals*, comp.windows.news, comp.windows.x**, rec.equestrian, rec.games.programmer, rec.ham-radio*, rec.video*, sci.lang.japan, sci.space*. Unidirectional gateways with world (Big 7) distribution: rec.aviation, sci.astro*, soc.culture.japan. The preceding three lists, seventy groups in all, are those that should have been on Spafford's list of gatewayed Big 7 groups; only the fifteen with asterisks actually were on Spafford's next such list, and only six of *those* (double-asterisked) lacked Spafford's flag indicating that he didn't know if the gateway worked. (Was ucbvax really that unreliable?) Moderated gateways with inet distribution: comp.ai.vision, comp.lang.clu, rec.mag.fsfnet. Bidirectional gateways with world (Big 7) distribution according to Fair, but which Spafford was to treat as inet: comp.mail.mhs, comp.mail.mhs.arpa, comp.protocols.iso.dev-environ. Bidirectional gateways with inet distribution, in which Fair's assertion matches Spafford's: comp.ai.edu, comp.arch.parallel-sym, comp.dcom.lans.hyperchannel, comp.dcom.lans.v2lni, comp.editors, comp.edu.composition, comp.lang.asm370, comp.lang.forth.mac, comp.lang.icon, comp.lang.idl, comp.lang.lisp.franz, comp.lang.lisp.x, comp.lang.rexx, comp.lang.visual, comp.lsi.cad, comp.mail.multi-media, comp.music, comp.os.aos, comp.os.cpm.amethyst, comp.os.rsts, comp.os.v, comp.periphs.printers, comp.protocols.pcnet, comp.protocols.pup, comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains, comp.sys.cdc, comp.sys.handhelds, comp.sys.ibm.pc.net, comp.sys.intel.ipsc310, comp.sys.northstar, comp.sys.super, comp.sys.ti.explorer, comp.sys.zenith, comp.terminals.bitgraph, comp.terminals.tty5620, comp.theory, comp.theory.cell-automata, comp.theory.dynamic-sys, comp.theory.self-org-sys, comp.unix.cray, news.software.nntp, rec.games.vectrex, sci.bio.technology, sci.math.num-analysis, sci.philosophy.meta, sci.psychology, soc.culture.esperanto. The preceding three lists are those I count as inet for the following summary and for the year-end summary that follows. (In other words, I accept Spafford's word over Fair's for the disputed three groups.) Trivia note: I'd be very surprised if comp.terminals.bitgraph didn't have behind it the same mailing list, in general subscribership if not direct lineal descent, as had once been the source for fa.bitgraph. This is the only case I'm aware of where an inet group seems likely to have a pre-1987 ancestry *on Usenet*, although there are other cases (comp.editors, comp.periphs.printers) where I can with more difficulty imagine an fa.* connection. I haven't yet researched any of these. IN INET: In comp.*, 43 unmoderated groups, 2 moderated groups, 45 total. In news.*, 1 unmoderated group, 0 moderated groups, 1 total. In rec.*, 1 unmoderated group, 1 moderated group, 2 total. In sci.*, 4 unmoderated groups, 0 moderated groups, 4 total. In soc.*, 1 unmoderated group, 0 moderated groups, 1 total. 53 total (3 moderated, 50 unmoderated). Annual summary: IN THE BIG SEVEN AND THEIR PREDECESSORS: In comp.*, from 61 to 96 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 43 moderated groups, from 61 to 139 total. In misc.*, from 12 to 14 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 3 moderated groups, from 12 to 17 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 59 to 0 moderated groups (from 2 to 0 inactive), from 60 (2 inactive) to 0 (0 inactive) total. In net.*, from 4 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 0 moderated groups, from 5 to 0 total. In news.*, from 9 to 9 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 4 moderated groups, from 10 to 13 total. In rec.*, from 62 to 68 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 7 moderated groups, from 62 to 75 total. In sci.*, from 14 to 16 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated group, from 14 to 17 total. In soc.*, from 13 to 16 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 4 moderated groups, from 13 to 20 total. In talk.*, from 8 to 10 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 8 to 10 total. Total, from 184 to 229 unmoderated groups, from 61 (2 inactive) to 62 (0 inactive) moderated groups, from 245 (or 243) to 291 total. IN INET: In comp.*, from 0 to 43 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 2 moderated groups, from 0 to 45 total. In news.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 1 total. In rec.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated group, from 0 to 1 moderated group, from 0 to 2 total. In sci.*, from 0 to 4 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 4 total. In soc.*, from 0 to 1 unmoderated group, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 0 to 1 total. Total, from 0 to 50 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 3 moderated groups, from 0 to 53 total. OVER ALL: In comp.*, from 61 to 139 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 45 moderated groups, from 61 to 184 total. In misc.*, from 12 to 14 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 3 moderated groups, from 12 to 17 total. In mod.*, from 1 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 59 to 0 moderated groups (from 2 to 0 inactive), from 59 (2 inactive) to 0 (0 inactive) total. In net.*, from 4 to 0 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 0 moderated groups, from 5 to 0 total. In news.*, from 9 to 10 unmoderated groups, from 1 to 4 moderated groups, from 10 to 14 total. In rec.*, from 62 to 69 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 8 moderated groups, from 62 to 77 total. In sci.*, from 14 to 20 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 1 moderated groups, from 14 to 21 total. In soc.*, from 13 to 17 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 4 moderated groups, from 13 to 21 total. In talk.*, from 8 to 10 unmoderated groups, from 0 to 0 moderated groups, from 8 to 10 total. Total, from 184 to 279 unmoderated groups, from 61 (2 inactive) to 65 (0 inactive) moderated groups, from 245 (or 243) to 344 total.