From fsspr@acad3.alaska.edu Mon Mar 29 20:31:32 1993
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: fsspr@acad3.alaska.edu (Sean Patrick Ryan)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,alt.bbs,alt.bbs.allsysop,alt.bbs.internet,alt.bbs.lists.d,alt.bbs.metal,alt.bbs.pcbuucp,alt.bbs.searchlight,alt.bbs.unixbbs,comp.bbs.misc,comp.bbs.waffle
Subject: RFD: comp.bbs.{searchlight,wanted,wwiv}
Followup-To: news.groups
Date: 26 Mar 1993 10:46:41 -0500
Organization: alaska.edu
Lines: 216
Sender: tale@rodan.UU.NET
Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net
Message-ID: <1ov8h1INN97o@rodan.UU.NET>
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Xref: uunet news.announce.newgroups:3356 news.groups:68515 alt.bbs:16682 alt.bbs.allsysop:1434 alt.bbs.internet:7168 alt.bbs.lists.d:260 alt.bbs.metal:36 alt.bbs.pcbuucp:1 alt.bbs.searchlight:29 alt.bbs.unixbbs:307 comp.bbs.misc:2582 comp.bbs.waffle:8277
This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) to create three new
newsgroups in the comp.bbs.* sub-hierarchy. These newsgroups, as
proposed, are to be called comp.bbs.searchlight, comp.bbs.wanted and
comp.bbs.wwiv. All are to be unmoderated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #1 - Create comp.bbs.searchlight
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.searchlight would be for general
discussion related to the Searchlight BBS software.
RATIONALE - This newsgroup was proposed in alt.config recently as an
alt.* group. Apparently, it was created, but has seen little if any
traffic so far. The idea behind creating the comp.bbs.* sub-hierarchy
during the spring of 1992 was to eventually replace the alt.bbs.* sub-
hierarchy. Unfortunately, this has not been the case so far.
alt.bbs.* has remained popular, and most of the new group proposals
have been for that sub-hierarchy. IMO, this greatly reduces the
chances that these groups have to survive, simply due to the
differences in propagation that exist between altnet and mainstream
Usenet. And as well, single-software newsgroups more logically belong
in mainstream Usenet, IMO.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.searchlight would include:
Questions and answers on where to obtain the software
Setting up the software
Configuring doors and utilities
The future development of the software, either as envisioned
by the readers of the newsgroup or by the author
Networking issues related to Searchlight
Lists of BBSes running the software; ads for individual BBSes
should be highly discouraged, though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #2 - Create comp.bbs.wanted
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.wanted would be for making and
answering requests related to BBSes and BBSing.
RATIONALE - Going back to the very first days of alt.bbs, all BBS-
related newsgroups have been plagued by the incessant "I want XXX
access in XXX area code" type posts, and other request-type posts as
well. Usually, these articles are posted indiscriminately by people,
are found in a large number of different newsgroups and are posted
without very much regard to propriety. Killing the articles in all of
these newsgroups isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, either.
This newsgroup would serve as the catch-all for these type of posts,
and would also allow people a newsgroup for re-placing articles which
are appropriate for this newsgroup, but not to whichever one the
article was originally posted to.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.wanted would include:
Requests for finding Internet (or any other such) access in a
particular area
Requests for finding software or hardware related to running a
BBS
Requests for BBS lists; the lists themselves should not be
posted to the newsgroup, though
Answers to any of the above; meta-discussions that may spring
out of such answers should be highly discouraged, however
Requests for help on a particular piece of software will be
tolerated, but these types of posts would likely find more
response in a more appropriate newsgroup
In addition, requests for dial-up access to hosts not running
BBS software (like most public access Unix boxen, most
commercial online services, etc.) should be discouraged as
well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #3 - Create comp.bbs.wwiv
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.wwiv would be for general discussion
related to the WWIV (World War 4) BBS software, the current/future
interfacing of WWIV to the Internet and/or Usenet, and to a lesser
extent, the networking capabilities of WWIV and the WWIV-based
networks that are currently available.
RATIONALE - The feelings I expressed under the comp.bbs.searchlight
rationale can be echoed here. A WWIV newsgroup was proposed to
alt.config back in November, but unlike the Searchlight newsgroup,
this one didn't get created in alt.*. There appears to be some
evidence of appeal for WWIV amongst people on the Internet. In
addition, the Internet has long been a subject of interest and
discussion with people on WWIVnet, with several networked sub-boards
(called "netsubs" by WWIV people) existing for quite some time to
discuss the Internet. In addition to Internet gatewaying capabilities
(see below), WWIV has it's own networking facilities, which date back
to 1988. At one point, WWIVnet was the world's largest proprietary
BBS network. That can no longer be considered the case, as systems
running Waffle and VBBS are now part of the network. WWIV is coming
into its own as a BBS software. For quite some time, continued
development of the software floundered as author Wayne Bell tried to
juggle both development and administration functions for the software.
He turned the administrative chores over to another sysop about 8
months ago, and development efforts have come along rather nicely.
WWIV-based networking had previously consisted of the following:
WWIVnet (run by Wayne Bell and based in California), WWIVlink (based
in Illinois) and IceNET (based in New York). One of the more recent
additions to the networking software was the ability to create
multiple networks. This has led to a million or so little RadDudeNets
(as so named by one WWIVnet sysop, as WWIV does appeal to a lot of
teenagers and pre-teens) popping up all over the place. The three
aforementioned networks still stand out today as the only truly
significant national WWIV-based networks, though. In years past,
WWIVnet has had some gating (all external and often very klunky) to
Fidonet and Usenet. Usenet gating is now accomplished more easily by
the WWCP gateware, but that runs with Waffle and connects to WWIV.
Internal Usenet support may be forthcoming in the future; word is
that Wayne is concentrating on internal Fidonet support (along with
internal foreign-language support) right now. In addition, it has
been rumored for years that Wayne is planning a Unix-compatible
version of WWIV. We'll see, though.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.wwiv would include:
Questions and answers on where to obtain the software
Setting up the software
Configuring doors and utilities; this would include
discussion on the compatibility of doors with WWIV
Networking issues related to WWIV, with particular emphasis on
connectivity issues related to Usenet/the Internet and WWIV-
based networks.
The future development of the software, either as envisioned
by the readers of the newsgroup or by Wayne Bell
Lists of BBSes running the software; ads for individual BBSes
should be highly discouraged, though
Debating the merits of all these RadDudeNets, provided that
such discussions don't degenerate to meta-discussions and/or
flame wars
Discussion and debate on the use of color and ANSI, with the
same caveat as above about meta-discussions and flame wars
Discussion about VBBS will be tolerated as well, provided such
discussion is limited to the relationship of VBBS to WWIV and/
or WWIV networks, and WWIV network connectivity issues under
VBBS.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This RFD is being issued as per the advice of "How to Create a New
Usenet Newsgroup" (popularly referred to as "The Guidelines"), article
ID <spaf-howto_726771321@cs.purdue.edu>, written by David C. Lawrence
<tale@uunet.uu.net> and posted to news.announce.new[groups,users], among
others. Please refer to this article if you have any questions about
the newsgroup creation process.
As for the vote:
1) I would prefer not to serve as the vote-taker. Attribute it to a
lack of time (I work a full-time job) and resources (this host is
running VMS, not Unix, so it lacks so many of those nifty utilities).
I will conduct the vote if no one desires to volunteer, however.
2) It would also be my preference to tack this vote onto the vote for
the comp.bbs.development proposal. This would obviously delay the
vote for that newsgroup, and may diminish its appeal, so I understand
if such an idea is really not desirable. I am simply proposing this
particular idea out of conveinence. This may possibly be a moot
point, though, as the CFV for comp.bbs.development may very well be
issued prior to or concurrent with this RFD. We'll see, though.
Also, please remember that the only posted discussion that counts
towards the final consideration of this RFD as it moves to a vote is
that which is posted to news.groups. I realize that many of the
people who are reading this article may be reading a BBS-related
newsgroup through BBS gateware and may not have direct posting access
to news.groups. However, most of you should have some sort of e-mail
access to the Internet. In that case, you may post to news.groups
through the number of mail-to-news gateways which exist on the
Internet. Below, please find a list of such gateways:
ucbvax.berkeley.edu
cs.utexas.edu
pws.bull.com
news.demon.co.uk
decwrl.dec.com
The syntax that should be used is 'news-groups@hostname' or possibly
'news.groups@hostname' which may be site-dependent. The exception to
this is decwrl, which requires a syntax of 'news.groups.usenet@decwrl.
dec.com'. There's also anon.penet.fi, but I'm not even going to
bother publicizing that site for posting to a newsgroup such as
news.groups. :-)
That's all for now. Despite the utter verbosity of this RFD (200+
lines, yikes!), I am somewhat lost as to various details of what
currently isn't included in these newsgroup charters and what possibly
should be included. If anyone out there has more experience than I do
with BBSing and the BBS-related newsgroups and would like to volunteer
to help refine this RFD, by all means, please feel free to contribute.
Look forward to seeing a successful result to all of this.
-Sean-
Sean Patrick Ryan****fsspr@aurora.alaska.edu or sean@freds.cojones.com
3215 Oregon Dr. #2, Anchorage, AK 99517-2048****907-272-9184****fnord
Abortion stops a beating heart****Disclaimer: I didn't inhale, either
IDITAROD SCOREBOARD 1993 - MEN 16, WOMEN 5****Read alt.flame.sean-ryan
From fsspr@acad3.alaska.edu Thu May 20 09:54:52 1993
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: fsspr@acad3.alaska.edu (Sean "Hardcore Alaskan" Ryan)
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,alt.bbs,alt.bbs.allsysop,alt.bbs.internet,alt.bbs.lists.d,alt.bbs.metal,alt.bbs.pcbuucp,alt.bbs.searchlight,alt.bbs.unixbbs,comp.bbs.misc,comp.bbs.waffle
Subject: CFV: comp.bbs.{development,searchlight,wanted,wwiv}
Followup-To: poster
Date: 19 May 1993 13:25:16 -0400
Organization: alaska.edu
Lines: 357
Sender: tale@rodan.UU.NET
Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net
Message-ID: <comp.bbs.dsww-CFV1@uunet.uu.net>
Reply-To: fsspr@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Xref: uunet news.announce.newgroups:3599 news.groups:72227 alt.bbs:18048 alt.bbs.allsysop:1722 alt.bbs.internet:7950 alt.bbs.lists.d:276 alt.bbs.metal:226 alt.bbs.pcbuucp:154 alt.bbs.searchlight:39 alt.bbs.unixbbs:385 comp.bbs.misc:3238 comp.bbs.waffle:9593
Yes, this is yet another very long article. Have patience. :-) The
newsgroup charters are unchanged from the 2nd RFD, so I placed them
last. If you already read the 2nd RFD, read up until the ballot. If
you didn't read the 2nd RFD, please read the entire article. Please
feel free to re-distribute this article wherever appropriate. And
don't forget to vote.
This is the official Call For Votes (CFV) for the creation of four new
newsgroups. These newsgroups are to be called comp.bbs.development,
comp.bbs.searchlight, comp.bbs.wanted and comp.bbs.wwiv.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. - GENERAL INFORMATION, VOTING INSTRUCTIONS, VOTING RULES
B. - THE BALLOT
C. - NEWSGROUP CHARTERS
A. - GENERAL INFORMATION, VOTING INSTRUCTIONS, VOTING RULES
-----------------------------------------------------------
Discussion
----------
The original RFD for comp.bbs.development was first posted on 15
February 1993. The original RFD for the other newsgroups was first
posted on 26 March 1993. These two proposals were rolled into one
with the issuance of a 2nd RFD, which was posted on 4 May 1993. The
discussion on these proposals was generally favorable. The only
dissenting opinions concerned a desire on the part of some to make
additions to this proposal, but none of those individuals came forward
to offer any specific suggestions when the opportunity was presented
to them.
Name
----
The names of these newsgroups were accepted as appropriate for the
corresponding charters.
Moderation Status
-----------------
The need for a moderator for any of these newsgroups was not
ascertained. Therefore, all are unmoderated.
Proposers
---------
Wes Garland 3386838@jeff-lab.queensu.ca comp.bbs.development
Sean Ryan fsspr@aurora.alaska.edu the other newsgroups
General
-------
This CFV is being issued as per the advice of "How to Create a New
Usenet Newsgroup" (popularly referred to as "The Guidelines"), article
ID <spaf-howto_726771321@cs.purdue.edu>, written by David C. Lawrence
<tale@uunet.uu.net> and posted to news.announce.new[groups,users], among
others. Please refer to this article if you have any questions about
the newsgroup creation process.
To pass their votes, each newsgroup will require at least 100 more YES
votes than NO votes, in addition to requiring twice as many YES votes
than NO votes. Please keep in mind that each newsgroup is being voted
on as a seperate proposal, even though they are combined into one
voting procedure. The success or failure of one newsgroup will not
have any bearing on the success or failure of any other newsgroup
being conducted through this vote. In addition, please keep in mind
that abstentions on any or all newsgroup proposals are allowed, but
they will be treated as null votes, without any positive or negative
bearing on the results.
Voting Period
-------------
The voting period will run from 00:00:00 on 19 May 1993 to 23:59:59 on
18 June 1993, Alaska Daylight Time, which is GMT -8. Any ballots
received outside of this period will not count. The begin and end
times for the voting period will be as measured on the system clock of
the machine receiving the votes.
I will attempt to find the time to post CFVs and vote ACKs on a weekly
basis during the voting period. However, I will guarantee that only
one additional CFV will be posted. Anything else will be time-
dependent on my part. Individual ACKs will be sent to all voters.
Voting Instructions
-------------------
To vote on these proposals, please send e-mail to:
fsspr@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu
You should be able to use the reply command on your newsreader to
automagically mail your ballot to the voting address. To make this
whole process easiest on both you and I, please use the ballot which
is included later on in this article. If you cannot reproduce the
ballot when replying, you may e-mail to the voting address a hand-
written ballot. It would be easiest on me if you submit any hand-
written ballots in substantially the same form as the prepared ballot
appears below. If you reply to this article, please edit out all of
the article but the ballot before sending it off to me. My job will
be made much easier if I don't have to edit several-hundred-plus-line
mail messages just to get to the necessary information.
Things should be pretty straightforward if you use the ballot in
voting, or as your guide in composing a hand-written ballot. Once you
have edited this article so as to leave the ballot, please edit out
the template so as to indicate your choices for each newsgroup
proposal, and include your name and e-mail address below that. It
would be heavily appreciated if you would give your real name here.
Though I will not reject votes which contain obvious handles for a
name, bear in mind that use of a real name assists me tremendously in
the verification process.
Since this CFV is going to be read on several BBS networks, here are
some special instructions on how voting may be accomplished from a BBS
network through gateware:
WWIVnet: Send e-mail to fsspr#camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu@(node number
of gateway). If you know of a local gateway, please make use of it.
Otherwise, you can send it through @506 or @511 (who have agreed to
allow their gateways to be listed in this CFV). Please keep net
dynamics and geography in mind when using a gateway. @506 is located
in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. @511 is located in Moraga, California,
U.S.A.
Other WWIV-based networks: Your mileage may vary. Check with your
local sysop or {area,group} coordinator. TardisNET can route e-mail
through @511.
Fidonet: Send NetMail to UUCP at (node number of gateway). In the
first line of the body of your message, include the following line:
To: fsspr@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu
Some newer Fidonet mailers may allow you to place the Internet address
directly in the mail headers, instead of specifying the UUCP gateway
address. Ask your local sysop which is the case. Also ask your local
sysop or hub administrator for the node number and location of the
nearest gateway. No one offered to list their gateway in this CFV.
Other BBS networks: Your mileage may vary. Check with your local
sysop for more information.
Voting Rules
------------
Votes posted to any newsgroup will not be counted.
Votes e-mailed to any address other than the one designated for voting
will not be counted. You may contact me at either of the addresses
found in my .sig if you have problems in getting e-mail delivered to
the voting address, and I will try to help you out. But I will not
accept votes at any address other than the one designated above for
voting.
Votes must be unambiguous expressions of your choice for each
individual newsgroup proposal. Statements such as "I will vote for
xxx if..." will not be accepted. The time for discussion on these has
passed; you are voting on the individual charters, as outlined at the
end of this article. Blanket votes, such as "I vote for all of them"
or "I vote against all of them" will likewise be rejected.
Only one vote per individual will be permitted. In the event that
more than one ballot is submitted from an individual, only the most
recent ballot will be counted. Votes must be sent by the individual
voting. Forwarded votes will not be counted. Votes mailed through
anonymous services will likewise not be counted.
B. - THE BALLOT
---------------
------------------------>8-----cut-here-----8<------------------------
Official Ballot for new comp.bbs.* additions (May - June 1993)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Please vote yes or no (or you may abstain) on the following proposals:
Create comp.bbs.development? Yes/No/Abstain
Create comp.bbs.searchlight? Yes/No/Abstain
Create comp.bbs.wanted? Yes/No/Abstain
Create comp.bbs.wwiv? Yes/No/Abstain
Last Name, First Name (email address)
------------------------>8-----cut-here-----8<------------------------
C. - NEWSGROUP CHARTERS
-----------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #1 - Create comp.bbs.development
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.development would be for discussion
about developing BBS software, or BBS add-ons, such as "doors" or
"mailers", or standardized interface layers thereof.
RATIONALE - These discussions currently have no home; widespread
discussion has been taking place for sometime in many groups,
especially alt.bbs and comp.bbs.misc, and even on occasion in non-BBS-
related newsgroups. A single newsgroup would certainly serve the
intended audience of such posts more effectively, as well as
centralize the discussion.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.development would include:
Where to find interface standards and what those standards
should be
Programming tricks and tips (both platform-specific and
generalized) for the development of BBS software
How should drop-files be standardized, or should they be?
Implementation of mail-transfer, drop-file, etc., standards
Programming techniques
Use of tool-boxes, libraries, etc (bugs, advice, features?)
Platform-specific drop-files, standards
Implementation of General standards
Programming bits, to include short postings of sample code
(same rules as exist on comp.bbs.waffle, nothing over 60K).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #2 - Create comp.bbs.searchlight
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.searchlight would be for general
discussion related to the Searchlight BBS software.
RATIONALE - An newsgroup for Searchlight was created in the alt.*
hierarchy recently. This was not a Good Thing. As those who remember
the RFD for comp.bbs.misc well know, comp.bbs.* is intended to be the
long-term replacement for alt.bbs.*. For this reason, it is doubtful
that any new alt.bbs.* newsgroup will find much acceptance among net
sites. In addition, the difference in site propagation which exists
between altnet and Usenet makes this the logical first place to start
in terms of forming a newsgroup. This newsgroup is being proposed as
an opportunity to provide a better place for those people who wish to
discuss Searchlight.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.searchlight would include:
Questions and answers on where to obtain the software
Setting up the software
Configuring doors and utilities
The future development of the software, either as envisioned
by the readers of the newsgroup or by the author
Networking issues related to Searchlight
Lists of BBSes running the software; ads for individual BBSes
should be highly discouraged, though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #3 - Create comp.bbs.wanted
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.wanted would be for making and
answering requests related to BBSes and BBSing.
RATIONALE - One type of posting which is all too familiar to readers
of BBS-related newsgroups is "XXX access wanted in XXX area code."
These appear in a very large number of newsgroups, and aren't the
easiest to kill, either. Other request-type postings (usually for
software) appear in many newsgroups as well, though probably in a much
smaller number of newsgroups than the former category. They are still
hard to ignore completely for those not interested in them. This
newsgroup would serve as the catch-all for these type of posts, and
would also allow people a newsgroup for moving articles out of
those newsgroups which are perhaps less than ideal for reaching their
intended audience.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.wanted would include:
Requests for finding Internet (or any other such) access in a
particular area
Requests for finding software or hardware related to running a
BBS
Requests for BBS lists; the lists themselves should not be
posted to the newsgroup, though
Answers to any of the above; meta-discussions that may spring
out of such answers should be highly discouraged, however
Requests for help on a particular piece of software will be
tolerated, but these types of posts would likely find more
response in a more appropriate newsgroup
In addition, requests for dial-up access to hosts not running
BBS software (like most public access Unix boxen, most
commercial online services, etc.) should be discouraged as
well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #4 - Create comp.bbs.wwiv
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.wwiv would be for general discussion
related to the WWIV (World War 4) BBS software, the current/future
interfacing of WWIV to the Internet and/or Usenet, and to a lesser
extent, the networking capabilities of WWIV and the WWIV-based
networks that are currently available.
RATIONALE - Many of the things said about comp.bbs.searchlight apply
here. A WWIV newsgroup was proposed to alt.config back in November.
It generated a pretty substantial amount of discussion, but nothing
ever came of it. I feel that the issue does need to be resolved.
Speaking of the software itself, I have noticed quite a bit of cross-
interest between WWIV users and Usenet users. WWIVnet has hosted
several networked discussion areas about the Internet and Usenet for
many years. Gating began in earnest last year with the development of
the WWCP gateware package. Gating is still in its infancy (i.e. it is
nowhere near the size and scope which exists in Fidonet), but a
newsgroup could help to further interest in gating. For instance,
there was talk about porting WWCP to *ix platforms. Plus, the
software itself has made great strides in recent months, and could
very well become a major force on the BBS scene in the years to come.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.wwiv would include:
Questions and answers on where to obtain the software
Setting up the software
Configuring doors and utilities; this would include
discussion on the compatibility of doors with WWIV
Networking issues related to WWIV, with particular emphasis on
connectivity issues related to Usenet/the Internet and WWIV-
based networks.
The future development of the software, either as envisioned
by the readers of the newsgroup or by Wayne Bell
Lists of BBSes running the software; ads for individual BBSes
should be highly discouraged, though
Discussion and debate on items which are WWIV "hot topics,"
such as the merits of millions of different WWIV-based
networks, or the use of color and ANSI, will be tolerated,
provided that such discussions don't degenerate to meta-
discussions and/or flame wars
Discussion about VBBS will be tolerated as well, provided such
discussion is limited to the relationship of VBBS to WWIV and/
or WWIV networks, and WWIV network connectivity issues under
VBBS.
--
Sean Patrick Ryan****fsspr@aurora.alaska.edu or sean@freds.cojones.com
3215 Oregon Dr. #2, Anchorage, AK 99517-2048****907-272-9184****fnord
Abortion stops a beating heart****Disclaimer: I didn't inhale, either
IDITAROD SCOREBOARD 1993 - MEN 16, WOMEN 5****Read alt.flame.sean-ryan
From FSSPR@acad3.alaska.edu Fri May 28 18:11:05 1993
Path: uunet!bounce-back
From: Hardcore Alaskan <FSSPR@acad3.alaska.edu>
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,alt.bbs,alt.bbs.allsysop,alt.bbs.internet,alt.bbs.lists.d,alt.bbs.metal,alt.bbs.pcbuucp,alt.bbs.searchlight,alt.bbs.unixbbs,comp.bbs.misc,comp.bbs.waffle
Subject: 2nd CFV and VOTE ACK: comp.bbs.{development,searchlight,wanted,wwiv}
Followup-To: poster
Date: 28 May 1993 16:10:06 -0400
Organization: alaska.edu
Lines: 476
Sender: tale@rodan.UU.NET
Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net
Message-ID: <1u5riuINNkuj@rodan.UU.NET>
Reply-To: fsspr@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net
Xref: uunet news.announce.newgroups:3638 news.groups:73001 alt.bbs:18296 alt.bbs.allsysop:1760 alt.bbs.internet:8142 alt.bbs.lists.d:279 alt.bbs.metal:248 alt.bbs.pcbuucp:176 alt.bbs.searchlight:41 alt.bbs.unixbbs:397 comp.bbs.misc:3313 comp.bbs.waffle:9822
NOTE: I have been receiving reports of e-mail problems. If you have
been unable to get your e-mail delivered to the voting address, please
inform me of this. Include copies of the bounce message(s). Your
vote is important to me.
Yes, this is yet another very long article. Have patience. :-) If
you have already voted, you may skip to the vote acks. If you haven't
voted, please do. The newsgroup charters are unchanged from the 2nd
RFD, so I placed them last. If you already read the 2nd RFD, you can
skip that part. Please feel free to re-distribute this article
wherever appropriate. And don't forget to vote.
This is the second Call For Votes (CFV) and mass vote acknowledgment
for the creation of four new newsgroups. These newsgroups are to be
called comp.bbs.development, comp.bbs.searchlight, comp.bbs.wanted and
comp.bbs.wwiv.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. - GENERAL INFORMATION, VOTING INSTRUCTIONS, VOTING RULES
B. - THE BALLOT
C. - ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF VOTES RECEIVED
D. - NEWSGROUP CHARTERS
A. - GENERAL INFORMATION, VOTING INSTRUCTIONS, VOTING RULES
-----------------------------------------------------------
Discussion
----------
The original RFD for comp.bbs.development was first posted on 15
February 1993. The original RFD for the other newsgroups was first
posted on 26 March 1993. These two proposals were rolled into one
with the issuance of a 2nd RFD, which was posted on 4 May 1993. The
discussion on these proposals was generally favorable. The only
dissenting opinions concerned a desire on the part of some to make
additions to this proposal, but none of those individuals came forward
to offer any specific suggestions when the opportunity was presented
to them.
Name
----
The names of these newsgroups were accepted as appropriate for the
corresponding charters.
Moderation Status
-----------------
The need for a moderator for any of these newsgroups was not
ascertained. Therefore, all are unmoderated.
Proposers
---------
Wes Garland 3386838@jeff-lab.queensu.ca comp.bbs.development
Sean Ryan fsspr@aurora.alaska.edu the other newsgroups
General
-------
This CFV is being issued as per the advice of "How to Create a New
Usenet Newsgroup" (popularly referred to as "The Guidelines"), article
ID <spaf-howto_726771321@cs.purdue.edu>, written by David C. Lawrence
<tale@uunet.uu.net> and posted to news.announce.new[groups,users], among
others. Please refer to this article if you have any questions about
the newsgroup creation process.
To pass their votes, each newsgroup will require at least 100 more YES
votes than NO votes, in addition to requiring twice as many YES votes
than NO votes. Please keep in mind that each newsgroup is being voted
on as a seperate proposal, even though they are combined into one
voting procedure. The success or failure of one newsgroup will not
have any bearing on the success or failure of any other newsgroup
being conducted through this vote. In addition, please keep in mind
that abstentions on any or all newsgroup proposals are allowed, but
they will be treated as null votes, without any positive or negative
bearing on the results.
Voting Period
-------------
The voting period will run from 00:00:00 on 19 May 1993 to 23:59:59 on
18 June 1993, Alaska Daylight Time, which is GMT -8. Any ballots
received outside of this period will not count. The begin and end
times for the voting period will be as measured on the system clock of
the machine receiving the votes.
I will attempt to find the time to post CFVs and vote ACKs on a weekly
basis during the voting period. However, I will guarantee that only
one additional CFV will be posted. Anything else will be time-
dependent on my part. Individual ACKs will be sent to all voters.
Voting Instructions
-------------------
To vote on these proposals, please send e-mail to:
fsspr@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu
You should be able to use the reply command on your newsreader to
automagically mail your ballot to the voting address. To make this
whole process easiest on both you and I, please use the ballot which
is included later on in this article. If you cannot reproduce the
ballot when replying, you may e-mail to the voting address a hand-
written ballot. It would be easiest on me if you submit any hand-
written ballots in substantially the same form as the prepared ballot
appears below. If you reply to this article, please edit out all of
the article but the ballot before sending it off to me. My job will
be made much easier if I don't have to edit several-hundred-plus-line
mail messages just to get to the necessary information.
Things should be pretty straightforward if you use the ballot in
voting, or as your guide in composing a hand-written ballot. Once you
have edited this article so as to leave the ballot, please edit out
the template so as to indicate your choices for each newsgroup
proposal, and include your name and e-mail address below that. It
would be heavily appreciated if you would give your real name here.
Though I will not reject votes which contain obvious handles for a
name, bear in mind that use of a real name assists me tremendously in
the verification process.
Since this CFV is going to be read on several BBS networks, here are
some special instructions on how voting may be accomplished from a BBS
network through gateware:
WWIVnet: Send e-mail to fsspr#camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu@(node number
of gateway). If you know of a local gateway, please make use of it.
Otherwise, you can send it through @506 or @511 (who have agreed to
allow their gateways to be listed in this CFV). Please keep net
dynamics and geography in mind when using a gateway. @506 is located
in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. @511 is located in Moraga, California,
U.S.A.
Other WWIV-based networks: Your mileage may vary. Check with your
local sysop or {area,group} coordinator. TardisNET can route e-mail
through @511.
Fidonet: Send NetMail to UUCP at (node number of gateway). In the
first line of the body of your message, include the following line:
To: fsspr@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu
Some newer Fidonet mailers may allow you to place the Internet address
directly in the mail headers, instead of specifying the UUCP gateway
address. Ask your local sysop which is the case. Also ask your local
sysop or hub administrator for the node number and location of the
nearest gateway. No one offered to list their gateway in this CFV.
Other BBS networks: Your mileage may vary. Check with your local
sysop for more information.
Voting Rules
------------
Votes posted to any newsgroup will not be counted.
Votes e-mailed to any address other than the one designated for voting
will not be counted. You may contact me at either of the addresses
found in my .sig if you have problems in getting e-mail delivered to
the voting address, and I will try to help you out. But I will not
accept votes at any address other than the one designated above for
voting.
Votes must be unambiguous expressions of your choice for each
individual newsgroup proposal. Statements such as "I will vote for
xxx if..." will not be accepted. The time for discussion on these has
passed; you are voting on the individual charters, as outlined at the
end of this article. Blanket votes, such as "I vote for all of them"
or "I vote against all of them" will likewise be rejected.
Only one vote per individual will be permitted. In the event that
more than one ballot is submitted from an individual, only the most
recent ballot will be counted. Votes must be sent by the individual
voting. Forwarded votes will not be counted. Votes mailed through
anonymous services will likewise not be counted.
B. - THE BALLOT
---------------
------------------------>8-----cut-here-----8<------------------------
Official Ballot for new comp.bbs.* additions (May - June 1993)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Please vote yes or no (or you may abstain) on the following proposals:
Create comp.bbs.development? Yes/No/Abstain
Create comp.bbs.searchlight? Yes/No/Abstain
Create comp.bbs.wanted? Yes/No/Abstain
Create comp.bbs.wwiv? Yes/No/Abstain
Last Name, First Name (email address)
------------------------>8-----cut-here-----8<------------------------
C. - ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF VOTES RECEIVED
--------------------------------------
The following votes have been received as of 18:00:00, GMT -8 on 27
May 1993, but have not been counted for the reasons listed. These
individuals have been asked to re-submit their ballots. Hopefully,
this will serve as a reminder to them.
Hamer, Norman maven@eskimo.com sent to wrong address
Hofer, Michael mhofer@gotham.east.sun.com sent to wrong address
Perkins, Ian q6xn@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca sent to wrong address
Sadowski, Janice cotuit@kettleer.win.net vague
These are the valid votes I have received as of 18:00:00, GMT -8 on 27
May 1993. They are sorted by last name, though I have also indicated
in this list the order in which they were received. I have edited the
names and e-mail addresses slightly for aesthetic reasons. If I have
caused for any information to be in error as a result, please let me
know so I can correct it. And once again, if you have had problems in
getting your ballot delivered to the voting address, PLEASE LET ME
KNOW!!! Your vote is important to me.
Order
Received
--------
|
| Name E-mail address
| ---- --------------
78 , 1-9702@wwiv.cojones.com
55 , mitra@pandora.sf.ca.us
38 Ambler, Christopher cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu
48 Arien, Peter laaaa43@cc1.kuleuven.ac.be
02 Bailey, Allan allan.bailey@tamu.edu
54 Bloor, Konrad eass08@castle.ed.ac.uk
36 Braden, John braden@lincoln.diag.stratus.com
24 Broiles, Greg greg@goldenbear.com
67 Brynell, David gdfwc3!davidb@uunet.uu.net
62 Burrow, William t0fg@unb.ca
60 Bush, Randy randy@psg.com
33 Caldwell, Richard nrc@cbemf.att.com
44 Chernov, Andrew ache@astral.msk.su
29 Clayton, John claytonm@wam.umd.edu
52 Cline, Ernest cline@usceast.cs.scarolina.edu
30 Cummings, Matthew mkcummin@apgea.army.mil
45 Dalrymple, Andy beezer@cc.utah.edu
75 DeFoor, Les 1-9969@wwiv.tfsquad.mn.org
61 Eisenhart, Eric eric@nermal.santarosa.edu
03 Fenner, William fenner@cs.psu.edu
63 Ferrel, Patrick v120qldp@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
20 Furr, Joel jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu
83 Garland, Wes garland@biol.gis.queensu.ca
04 Gasser, Thomas thomasg@staff.tc.umn.edu
16 Glover, Jeff jeffg@loki.esd.sgi.com
12 Grumbine, Bob rgrumbin@nyx.cs.du.edu
82 Hart, Phil 1-29964@wwiv.tfsquad.mn.org
26 Hartman, Shane shane@spr.com
11 Hatz, Mike mhatz@nyx.cs.du.edu
23 Helou, Gabe gabe@angus.mi.org
47 Horn, Christopher chorn@sod.linet.org
14 Huang, Ping pshuang@athena.mit.edu
21 Husvar, Jerod jerodh@mcs.kent.edu
79 Kirsch, Joseph fez@toz.buffalo.ny.us
71 Klein, Alexander klein@stereo.stgt.sub.org
09 Knight, Ric ric@vnet.ibm.com
76 Kuntzelman, Scott sk6174@katya.acs.ilstu.edu
58 Labovitz, Stuart stu@valinor.mythical.com
07 Lash, Jay jjlash@zodiac.cca.cr.rockwell.com
59 Macassey, Julian julian@bongo.tele.com
80 Malinowski, Dennis spelunke@toz.buffalo.ny.us
53 Manes, Steve manes@magpie.nycenet.edu
72 Martin, David dem@hep.net
64 Mau, Napoleon mau@herky.cs.uiowa.edu
35 Mcclung, Matt matt@ux1.isu.edu
37 Milavec, Igor igor.milavec@uni-lj.si
34 Miller, Richard rick@bcm.tmc.edu
19 Moncur, Michael mgm@world.std.com
28 Moorcroft, Marc smarry@zooid.guild.org
46 Mullaney, Brian bmullane@njcc.wisdom.bubble.org
25 Nesbitt, Murray scocan!pseudo!mjn@yonge.csri.toronto.edu
13 Olson, Eric ejo@kaja.gi.alaska.edu
66 Owens, Chris cao@dcs.ed.ac.uk
74 Pearson, Robert robert.pearson@njackn.com
69 Peltonen, Ismo ismo.peltonen@tower.nullnet.fi
40 Peterson, Craig craig@osf.org
51 Petro, Herbert hmpetro@uncc.edu
49 Plutchak, Joel plutchak@porter.geo.brown.edu
10 Pool, Ron ron@cce.cornell.edu
17 Pope, Bruce red-eft!qruton!baptpdc@valley.west.sun.com
50 Rogers, Steve srogers@tad.eds.com
01 Ryan, Sean fsspr@aurora.alaska.edu
18 Shambaugh, Scott shambaus@ucs.orst.edu
27 Shiobara, Edward root@ecwav.des.edu
06 Shipley, Rich rshipley@access.digex.net
22 Shirley, Mike mikey@slic.cts.com
32 Sinamark, Ed efs@summa4.mv.com
15 Spear, Geoffrey gspear+@cmu.edu
81 Steinberg, Steven user687y@um.cc.umich.edu
68 Sward, David sward+@cmu.edu
39 Taylor, Thomas thomast@gagme.chi.il.us
70 Tudor, Bobbie tudorb@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
57 Umbright, Guy vagrant@vpnet.chi.il.us
05 Vanegas, Rodrigo rv@brown.edu
42 Walls, Tim twalls@ncc1701d.demon.co.uk
08 Watanapongse, Pirawat pw@cacs.usl.edu
43 Weatherley, Rhys rhys@cs.uq.oz.au
56 Wittenauer, Allen ecereal@crispy.carb.il.us
73 Woodbury, Gregory ggw@wolves.durham.nc.us
77 Yarnell, Chris chris2914@delphi.com
41 Yau, Hun huny@cco.caltech.edu
31 Zirin, Daniel ziridan@echosphere.com
65 van den Hout, Koos koos@kzdoos.hacktic.nl
D. - NEWSGROUP CHARTERS
-----------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #1 - Create comp.bbs.development
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.development would be for discussion
about developing BBS software, or BBS add-ons, such as "doors" or
"mailers", or standardized interface layers thereof.
RATIONALE - These discussions currently have no home; widespread
discussion has been taking place for sometime in many groups,
especially alt.bbs and comp.bbs.misc, and even on occasion in non-BBS-
related newsgroups. A single newsgroup would certainly serve the
intended audience of such posts more effectively, as well as
centralize the discussion.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.development would include:
Where to find interface standards and what those standards
should be
Programming tricks and tips (both platform-specific and
generalized) for the development of BBS software
How should drop-files be standardized, or should they be?
Implementation of mail-transfer, drop-file, etc., standards
Programming techniques
Use of tool-boxes, libraries, etc (bugs, advice, features?)
Platform-specific drop-files, standards
Implementation of General standards
Programming bits, to include short postings of sample code
(same rules as exist on comp.bbs.waffle, nothing over 60K).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #2 - Create comp.bbs.searchlight
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.searchlight would be for general
discussion related to the Searchlight BBS software.
RATIONALE - An newsgroup for Searchlight was created in the alt.*
hierarchy recently. This was not a Good Thing. As those who remember
the RFD for comp.bbs.misc well know, comp.bbs.* is intended to be the
long-term replacement for alt.bbs.*. For this reason, it is doubtful
that any new alt.bbs.* newsgroup will find much acceptance among net
sites. In addition, the difference in site propagation which exists
between altnet and Usenet makes this the logical first place to start
in terms of forming a newsgroup. This newsgroup is being proposed as
an opportunity to provide a better place for those people who wish to
discuss Searchlight.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.searchlight would include:
Questions and answers on where to obtain the software
Setting up the software
Configuring doors and utilities
The future development of the software, either as envisioned
by the readers of the newsgroup or by the author
Networking issues related to Searchlight
Lists of BBSes running the software; ads for individual BBSes
should be highly discouraged, though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #3 - Create comp.bbs.wanted
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.wanted would be for making and
answering requests related to BBSes and BBSing.
RATIONALE - One type of posting which is all too familiar to readers
of BBS-related newsgroups is "XXX access wanted in XXX area code."
These appear in a very large number of newsgroups, and aren't the
easiest to kill, either. Other request-type postings (usually for
software) appear in many newsgroups as well, though probably in a much
smaller number of newsgroups than the former category. They are still
hard to ignore completely for those not interested in them. This
newsgroup would serve as the catch-all for these type of posts, and
would also allow people a newsgroup for moving articles out of
those newsgroups which are perhaps less than ideal for reaching their
intended audience.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.wanted would include:
Requests for finding Internet (or any other such) access in a
particular area
Requests for finding software or hardware related to running a
BBS
Requests for BBS lists; the lists themselves should not be
posted to the newsgroup, though
Answers to any of the above; meta-discussions that may spring
out of such answers should be highly discouraged, however
Requests for help on a particular piece of software will be
tolerated, but these types of posts would likely find more
response in a more appropriate newsgroup
In addition, requests for dial-up access to hosts not running
BBS software (like most public access Unix boxen, most
commercial online services, etc.) should be discouraged as
well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSAL #4 - Create comp.bbs.wwiv
PURPOSE - The newsgroup comp.bbs.wwiv would be for general discussion
related to the WWIV (World War 4) BBS software, the current/future
interfacing of WWIV to the Internet and/or Usenet, and to a lesser
extent, the networking capabilities of WWIV and the WWIV-based
networks that are currently available.
RATIONALE - Many of the things said about comp.bbs.searchlight apply
here. A WWIV newsgroup was proposed to alt.config back in November.
It generated a pretty substantial amount of discussion, but nothing
ever came of it. I feel that the issue does need to be resolved.
Speaking of the software itself, I have noticed quite a bit of cross-
interest between WWIV users and Usenet users. WWIVnet has hosted
several networked discussion areas about the Internet and Usenet for
many years. Gating began in earnest last year with the development of
the WWCP gateware package. Gating is still in its infancy (i.e. it is
nowhere near the size and scope which exists in Fidonet), but a
newsgroup could help to further interest in gating. For instance,
there was talk about porting WWCP to *ix platforms. Plus, the
software itself has made great strides in recent months, and could
very well become a major force on the BBS scene in the years to come.
CONTENT - Appropriate topics for comp.bbs.wwiv would include:
Questions and answers on where to obtain the software
Setting up the software
Configuring doors and utilities; this would include
discussion on the compatibility of doors with WWIV
Networking issues related to WWIV, with particular emphasis on
connectivity issues related to Usenet/the Internet and WWIV-
based networks.
The future development of the software, either as envisioned
by the readers of the newsgroup or by Wayne Bell
Lists of BBSes running the software; ads for individual BBSes
should be highly discouraged, though
Discussion and debate on items which are WWIV "hot topics,"
such as the merits of millions of different WWIV-based
networks, or the use of color and ANSI, will be tolerated,
provided that such discussions don't degenerate to meta-
discussions and/or flame wars
Discussion about VBBS will be tolerated as well, provided such
discussion is limited to the relationship of VBBS to WWIV and/
or WWIV networks, and WWIV network connectivity issues under
VBBS.
--
Sean Patrick Ryan****fsspr@aurora.alaska.edu or sean@freds.cojones.com
3215 Oregon Dr. #2, Anchorage, AK 99517-2048****907-272-9184****fnord
Abortion stops a beating heart****Disclaimer: I didn't inhale, either
IDITAROD SCOREBOARD 1993 - MEN 16, WOMEN 5****Read alt.flame.sean-ryan