From: sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu (Timothy F. Sipples)
Subject: Re: Future OS/2 newsgroups (was Re: [...] comp.sys.ibm.pc.advocacy?)
Reply-To: sip1@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: Dept. of Econ., Univ. of Chicago
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 01:56:39 GMT

In article <1993Jan2.060657.22373@ringer.cs.utsa.edu> mlevis@ringer.cs.utsa.edu (Mike Levis) (OS/2) writes:
>>The comp.os.os2.programmer.porting proposal a while back was a
>>terrific idea.  The voting was botched, frankly, and I hope it gets
>>reintroduced for RFD after the mandatory six month wait.  Does anyone
>>know when that six months is up?  (That new newsgroup would also
>>accompany a renaming of comp.os.os2.programmer to
>>comp.os.os2.programmer.misc.)
>The official voting deadline ended on August 31 (although the original vote
>taker gave you and me the botched votes in October!).  Due to that six
>month waiting period, the two failed groups (.porting and .setup) cannot
>be brought up for RFD until March 1.  I'm not sure, but I think other
>potential OS/2 groups can have an RFD now, but as you stated last summer
>(during the CFV for .porting and .setup) it would be best to vote on all
>the groups together.

Well, they're needed, so perhaps we can RFD them now and get a two
month headstart.

OK, Mike, will you take charge of this?  From RFD to completion of
voting?

The only trouble is, we need an .announce moderator.  Any volunteers?

Once we come up with a moderator, I'd certainly like to see
comp.os.os2.ver1x and comp.os.os2.announce RFD'ed.

I can think of some other possibilities, but let's stick with these
two for now.

>Its too bad that the original CFV came during the summer when people
>were on vacation.  And there were no subsequent CFVs to remind people
>to vote.  To get the new newsgroups as early as possible, I figure an
>RFV on March 1, a CFV on March 29, and the voting deadline for April 26
>(although I'll have to re-check the voting rules to make sure if the
>minimum time frames are 4 weeks) with several subsequent CFVs in between
>to remind people to vote, and the five day waiting period to ensure voting
>fairness.  This means we can get our newsgroups as early as May 1.

Sounds fair.

>>The other botched newsgroup was comp.os.os2.setup, which I'd also like
>>to reintroduce.
>>So, in summary, I'd like to see these OS/2 newsgroups:
>>comp.os.os2.misc
>>comp.os.os2.advocacy
>>comp.os.os2.apps
>>comp.os.os2.networking
>>comp.os.os2.announce
>>comp.os.os2.ver1x
>>comp.os.os2.programmer.misc
>>comp.os.os2.programmer.porting
>And comp.os.os2.setup, too .

Right.  We need to wait until March 1 on .setup, .programmer.misc, and
.programmer.porting.

>As to .announce, what would be the moderator allow to be posted?
>I figure your FAQ List, other specialized OS/2 FAQ Lists (like the
>programmer's version), IBM's bug workarounds, List of CSD ftp Sites,
>and IBM news announcements about OS/2 would be allowed.  But would
>advertising (whether from IBM or someone else) for OS/2 software be
>allowed?  How about advertising from a hardware maker that includes
>an OS/2 driver in its product ("Brand-X CD-ROM drives... we now
>support OS/2.").  In other words, do we want .announce to be a low
>traffic newsgroup or a higher traffic one?

I vote for high traffic (but high content).  Here are some examples of
material suitable for the .announce newsgroup:

(1) FAQ Lists;
(2) new applications;
(3) new releases of OS/2 and accessories, including beta;
(4) CSD announcements;
(5) summaries of APARs opened;
(6) OS/2 Worldwide BBS List;
(7) Miscellaneous material.

>As to .setup, maybe we should call it .setup.intel or .setup.pc?  Since
>IBM is going to have OS/2 run on multiple platforms, we should create our
>newsgroups (and their names) with future plans in mind.

All in good time.  The Usenet rules forbid establishment of newsgroups
prior to the need.

-- 
Timothy F. Sipples      | Read the OS/2 FAQ List 2.0h, available from
sip1@ellis.uchicago.edu | 128.123.35.151, anonymous ftp, in /pub/os2/all/info
Dept. of Econ., Univ.   | /faq, or from LISTSERV@BLEKUL11.BITNET (send "HELP")
of Chicago, 60637       | [Read the List, THEN post to ONE OS/2 newsgroup.]
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy