WARNING

This document has been only minimally updated for over two years. The links in here were working as of 02 January 2000, but the facts are another matter. An update may or may not ever occur.

References from news.groups: A Survival Guide

From: "news.groups FAQ" <mcq@wco.com>

URL: http://turing.postilion.org/these-survive/newsgroups/debate.html
Last-modified: 25 November 2001 by Joe Bernstein <joe@sfbooks.com>

     References from news.groups: A Survival Guide
     ---------------------------------------------


   by Rebecca G. McQuitty <mcq@wco.com>
 updated by Joe Bernstein <joe@sfbooks.com>
 
with contributions and other help from a bunch of other helpful
news.groups denizens.

Subject: 1. Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents
2. Where To Go For More Information
   1. How to use these references
   2. Articles everyone should read
   3. Web sites to visit first
   4. Articles for proponents
   5. Moderation information
   6. Net abuse
   7. Usenet history and personalities
   8. Archives
3. About this FAQ

Subject: 2. Where To Go For More Information

2.1 How to use these references

• On Usenet. The reference will tell you where the article is regularly posted, who posts it, and what the subject is.
• By e-mail. You will be dealing with automated mail servers; send mail with a blank subject and include a message body with only the line specified here. (Leave out your signature!)
• On the World Wide Web (WWW). Some of the URLs given here had to be divided across two lines; if you actually type in a URL you should ignore this and type everything between "<URL:" and ">" as one continuous string, with no returns or blank spaces.
• By anonymous FTP. This will work at Web sites whose URLs begin "<URL:ftp". The format is always <URL:ftp://host.name/path>.

2.2 Articles everyone should read

These four articles can also usually be found at the "Web sites to visit first".

The Guidelines were originally written by Greg Woods and have subsequently been maintained by Gene Spafford (spaf, tale's predecessor) and by tale.

Here's how to find the hallowed document:

On Usenet -

Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers, news.groups, news.admin.misc,

news.announce.newgroups, news.answers

From: newgroups-request@isc.org (David C Lawrence)
Subject: How to Create a New Usenet Newsgroup

By Email -

To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

[body] send usenet/news.groups/How_to_Create_a_New_Usenet_Newsgroup

By anonymous FTP or the Web -

<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/creating-newsgroups/part1>

The Draft Revised Guidelines were written afresh by Russ Allbery. Since he is also the day-to-day moderator of news.announce.newgroups these days, while they do not have the ultimate authority of tale's decisions, they are usually more reliable for current information.

On Usenet -

Newsgroups: news.groups
From: Russ Allbery
Subject: Guidelines for Big Eight Newsgroup Creation

By the Web -

<URL:http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/faqs/big-eight.html>

The "Guidelines on Usenet Newsgroup Names," by David Wright and Mark Moraes, explains how to name Big 8 groups in a consistent and self-explanatory way.

On Usenet -

Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers, news.groups, news.admin.misc,

alt.config, alt.answers, news.answers

From: David.W.Wright@bnr.co.uk
Subject: Guidelines on Usenet Newsgroup Names

By Email -

To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

[body] send usenet/news.groups/Guidelines_on_Usenet_Newsgroup_Names

By anonymous FTP or the Web -

<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/creating-newsgroups/naming/part1>

Another good introduction to the RFD/CFV process is John Stanley's "User's Guide to the Changing Usenet", which provides the elementary information you need in order to decide whether you need to know more:

<URL:http://cil-www.oce.orst.edu:8080/users.guide>

2.3 Web sites to visit first

One excellent site for proponents, newcomers to news.groups, newcomers to Usenet in general, and those interested in alt groups is maintained by Jon Bell:

<URL:http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/6882/ncreate.html>

The Usenet Volunteer Votetakers also maintain a web site with newsgroup creation information, including lots of interesting information about votes and votetaking:

<URL:http://www.uvv.org/>

2.4 Articles for proponents

"How to Write a Good Newsgroup Proposal," by David Lawrence and Una Smith, gives examples of strong and weak arguments that may be useful for anyone in a serious debate, not just proponents.

On Usenet -

Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups
From: newgroups-request@isc.org (David C Lawrence)
Subject: How to Write a Good Newsgroup Proposal

On the Web -

<URL:http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/usenet/newgroup/good-proposal.faq>

Russ Allbery's "How to Format and Submit a New Group Proposal" explains the details of getting an RFD approved.

On Usenet -

Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups
From: newgroups-request@isc.org (David C Lawrence)
Subject: How to Format and Submit a New Group Proposal

On the Web -

<URL:http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/usenet/newgroup/how-submit.faq>

Ron Dippold's "Newsgroup Creation Companion", though it hasn't been updated recently, remains a good guide to the nastier side of being a proponent.

On the Web -

<URL:http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/usenet/newgroup/creation-companion.faq>

2.5 Moderation information

A good introduction to how moderated newsgroups work, with further references for proponents and future moderators, is the "Moderated Newsgroups FAQ" by Denis McKeon.

On Usenet -

Newsgroups: news.groups, news.newusers.questions,

news.software.misc,news.admin.net-abuse.usenet, alt.config,

alt.answers, news.answers

From: Dmckeon@swcp.com (Denis McKeon)
Subject: Moderated Newsgroups FAQ

By Email -

To: mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

[body] send usenet/news.groups/Moderated_Newsgroups_FAQ

By anonymous FTP or the Web -

<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/news/moderated-ng-faq>
<URL:http://www.swcp.com/~dmckeon/mod-faq.html>

Kent Landfield's venerable 'NetNews Moderators Handbook' still contains valuable information.

On the Web -

<URL:http://www.landfield.com/usenet/moderators/handbook/handbook.html>

2.6 Net abuse

tale PGP-signs all his control messages to distinguish them from forgeries in his name. INN patches that will automate PGP verification and instructions for installing them are available here:

<URL:ftp://ftp.uu.net/networking/news/misc/pgpcontrol/>

news.admin.net-abuse.* is the place to discuss spam and other net abuse. The nan-a "Net Abuse FAQ" is available here:

<URL:http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html>

<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/net-abuse-faq/part1>.

Find out about trolls from Gandalf's "Dealing with Trolls Crossposting and Flames" FAQ. It's posted occasionally to alt.syntax.tactical and news.admin.net-abuse misc, among other places, and is available at

<URL:http://digital.net/~gandalf/trollfaq.html>

<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/net-abuse-faq/troll-faq>

2.7 Usenet history and personalities

You can start learning about Usenet history by reading Lee Bumgarner's FAQ on the Great Renaming (the event resulting in the original Big 7).
[2000/01/02. I currently can find no copies of this on the Web. It changed over time; a relatively recent copy that I know of can be found at DejaNews, by searching for its Message-ID, which is <4sudc9$5de@doc.jmu.edu>. Anyone who has a webbed copy, knows of one, or wants to make one, please let me know! - JLB]

David DeLaney's net.legends FAQ tells about net.gods, net.kooks, and everything in between.

<URL:http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/faqs/legends.html>

2.8 Archives

tale maintains an archive of all posts to news.announce.newgroups since 1989. This is a good place to find vote results and current charters.

<URL:ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/>

tale also maintains an archive of all control messages creating and deleting groups (newgroups and rmgroups) he's received since 1991. This archive includes hierarchies outside the Big 8; newgroups for the Big 8 include charters.

<URL:ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/control/>

Deja and Alta Vista both maintain archives of Usenet posts -- Deja usually has everything back to March 1995, while Alta Vista keeps three months' worth.

<URL:http://www.deja.com/>

<URL:http://www.altavista.com/>.

The FAQ archives at rtfm.mit.edu are mirrored at several other places, including UUNET.

<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/>

<URL:ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.answers>

<URL:http://www.faqs.org/faqs/>

Subject: 10. About this FAQ

You can always get the most recent version of this FAQ at this URL:

<URL:http://turing.postilion.org/these-survive/newsgroups/references.html>