From: ronda@ais.org (Ronda Hauben)
Newsgroups: alt.amateur-comp
Subject: Welcome alt.amateur-comp:Draft for Comment
Date: 26 Jan 1993 02:20:15 GMT
Organization: UMCC
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: umcc.ais.org
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draft for comment:


WELCOME TO THE alt.amateur-comp NEWSGROUP
 
     The alt.amateur-comp newsgroup is a newsgroup for discussion
of subjects and articles that appear in the Amateur Computerist
newsletter, to provide a place for the distribution of the
newsletter when a new edition appears, to give writers a 
place to publish drafts of their articles or ideas for articles
so they can get feedback and comments, and to encourage
discussion of topics and subjects related to those covered
in the newsletter. 

     The Amateur Computerist newsletter derives its name
from those who love computers, but also, for amateur as  
opposed to professional. Both the newsletter and the 
newsgroup are for those who want to share the expertise
they have, as opposed to those who want to hoard
knowledge for their own personal profit in the sense of
the "computer priesthood" referred to by Ted Nelson  
in his book "Computer Lib" (1974). 
 
     The Amateur Computerist has also taken the name amateur in 
opposition to commercial, of those who do computering for the love 
of it, not for the love of money.
 
     As Floyd Hoke-Miller wrote in the first issue of the 
Amateur Computerist: "From the Great Wall to the Great Pyramid, 
from the hieroglyphics to the screen of the computer, mankind is 
still progressing. So make the new born science, that has given 
us the computer for the amateur and not as a perogative of the 
professional to be shrouded in secrecy from humanity, the choice 
of the individual, not the election of a minority.... Therefore I 
implore all to plan and to participate....I still see the mind of 
man the greatest computer of all -- So Let Us Continue to Make 
Use of It to the Advantage of the Masses..."(Dawn of a New Era", 
vol I, no. 1)
 
     In another article, in vol 1 no 2, the same writer explained 
why the amateur was so special. He wrote: " The amateur is 
dedicated to the love of computers for the sake of the common 
cause. The professional is dedicated to money and self 
aggrandizement." (from "Pass the Profits, Please: A Treatise on 
the Shorter Hour Contention" by Floyd Hoke-Miller, vol 1 no. 2)
  
     The first issue was published February 11, 1988 and was 
dedicated to the Flint sit down pioneers who began the United 
Automobile Workers Union, (the UAW). Articles like "Dawn of a New 
Era" and "Pass the Profits Please" appeared in the newsletter 
from labor pioneers who welcomed the computer and the 
Amateur Computerist. They believed that the upcoming 
generation of workers would have to win their share of the 
"technological kitty" that results from automation in large 
scale industry.
 
     The Amateur Computerist is dedicated to support for
grassroots efforts like the "computers for the people
movement" that gave birth to the personal computer in the 
1970s and 1980s. Hard efforts of many people over hundreds of 
years led to the production of a working computer in the 1940s 
and then a personal computer that people could afford in the 
1970s. This history has been serialized in several issues of the 
newsletter.  The Amateur Computerist takes its name from the 
spirit and tradition of the early computer hackers who called 
themselves the Amateur Computerist Society and who built the 
first personal computers.
 
     The Amateur Computerist was born out of the battle to 
continue programming classes for workers at the Ford Rouge Factory  
in Dearborn, MI after Ford and UAW officials ended the classes in
February, 1987. The Amateur Computerist is a combination of 
hobbiest/amateur subjects and labor oriented subjects.
 
     In our first issue, we wrote:
 
     "This newsletter is to inform people of developments in the 
effort to advance computer education. Workers at the Ford Rouge 
Plant in Dearborn, MI, were denied computer programming classes. 
There was an effort by administrators of the UAW-Ford program at 
the Dearborn Engine Plant to kill interest in computers and 
computer programming. We want to keep interest alive because 
computers are the future. We want to disperse information to 
users about computers. Since the computer is still in the early 
stage of development, the ideas and experiences of users need to 
be shared and built on if this technology is to advance. To this 
end, this newsletter is dedicated to all people interested in 
learning about computers. We welcome articles, programs, reviews, 
etc. We want this newsletter to help people use their computers 
in ways that will be useful and fun." (February 11, 1988, vol 
I,no 1)
 
     In Spring 1992, an electronic version of the printed edition 
first appeared. With our Fall 1992 Special Supplement "The 
Wonderful World of Usenet News", we begin to document the 
progressive impact of democratic developments like Usenet News 
and the Internet. 
 
     The alt.amateur-comp newsgroup makes possible an important 
link between the printed media and the electronic media. 
You are invited to participate and post in this newsgroup 
introducing or commenting on subjects of interest to Amateur
Computerists and to workers. Such posts or discussion will help to
suggest ideas for articles for the Amateur Computerist. Also, you 
are encouraged to post a draft of an article and request 
feedback, or discuss articles that have been published.
 
     Following are some of the categories of articles that have 
appeared in the Amateur Computerist over the past 5 years: 

1)The History of Computers 
 
2)News and Views from the Shop Floor 
 
3)How Technology Affects Society 
 
4)The Debate over whether Legislated Shorter Hours of Labor 
Encourages Technological Development and Automation
 
5)News of Strikes
 
6)Problem Corner for Computer Related Problems and Proposed 
Solutions

7)"How To" Articles 
 
8)Books Reviews of Computer Related Books
 
9)"Try This" Programs 
 
10)Interviews with Pioneers of the Telecommunications and 
Computer Revolution 
 
11)Poems relating to labor or to computers
 
12)Editorials about the UAW and Auto Industry Management
and Government
 
13)Letters to the Editor
 
14)Cartoons or graphics relating to computers or labor
 
15)Open Access - Guest Editorials
 
16)Round Table Discussions
 
17)Updates about the cancellation of programming classes
at Ford 

     The Amateur Computerist is published 4 times a year in 
electronic and printed form. The electronic form is available 
when published in alt.amateur-comp newsgroup or via subscription.

     We welcome submissions for the newsletter or posts and
discussion for the newsgroup. (If you are submitting an article 
for publication in a future issue, send email copies stating
in the Subject:Submission to au329@cleveland.freenet.edu and
cc: bm030@cleveland.freenet.edu). We try to publish as 
many of the submissions as we can in the print edition, but 
sometimes it takes a while for an article to appear. In the 
meantime, we encourage people to post articles, drafts of 
articles, ideas, questions, etc. and encourage responses to 
these posts. .
 
     Recent back issues of the Amateur Computerist are available
via anonymous ftp from 
       wuarchive.wustl.edu
It is stored in directory
       /doc/misc/acn
 
     Vol 4 no 2 included an index of articles published in all 
previous issues.
 
     To subscribe to the electronic edition, send email to 
au329@cleveland.freenet.edu or hauben@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu
 
     In the "Dedication" in the first issue, we wrote:
 
     "The `Amateur Computerist' is an effort to encourage 
     discussion on the problem of Automation. Microcomputers 
     are now an important fact of life. They are new. The
     first microcomputer design was announced to the public only
     14 years ago. (It was the Mark-8 by Jonathan Titus featured
     on the cover of the July, 1974 issue of Radio Electronics.) 
     Today, personal computers are everywhere. They are affecting 
     and changing homes, factories, offices, etc. They are 
     revolutionizing all fields of knowledge. Therefore, it is 
     crucial that computers not be kept from people -- that 
     knowledge about computers be available to amateurs as well 
     as professionals." ("Dedication," vol 1, no. 1)
 
     The articles in the first issue suggest how computers will 
help bring a better world. The articles included:
     Introduction
     Dawn of a New Era
     Dedication
     World of Telecommunications
     Future Belongs to Programmers
     Try this 
     Commodore Tips and Tricks
     Why Learn Programming
 
     The alt.amateur-comp newsgroup is dedicated to the fruits of
the computer and communications revolution being available for
public purposes. We support free and public access to 
telecommunications technology.
Xref: sparky alt.amateur-comp:658 alt.folklore.computers:19245 alt.culture.usenet:1017