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- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.111
-
-
-
- 0 MS02-CA
- 1 MS02-CA
- 2 MS02-AA
-
- This configuration will work, and be properly recognized by Ultrix,
- but it is not "supported." The console will see all of the memory
- modules. The operating system will be expecting memory in 32MB
- segments and when it hits slot 2 it will simply believe that there are
- 24MB of failed memory on that module.
-
- It will not be possible to support higher memory congigurations in the
- DS5000 series machines with 16Mbit DRAM cards. The issue is that both the
- physical memory address and the I/O address are provided by the same Kseg0
- block (512MB) in the R3000. This will not change with the advent of the R4000
- daughter cards, as it would require modification of the memory controller ASIC
- (the MT chip) as well.
-
-
- ==============================================
- H6. How can I find out which type of DECstation 5000 I have?
-
- If /etc/sizer -c returns:
- DS5000 then it's a 5000/200.
- DS5000_100 then it's a 5000/1xx (where xx={20,25,33})
- DS5000_300 then it's a 5000/240.
- DSPERSONAL_DECSTATION then it's a 5000/xx.
-
- For something more specific on the 5000/1xx and 5000/xx, you need to
- look at the messages printed out at last boot time (available in the
- error log; use /etc/uerf -R -r 300).
-
- ******************** Miscellaneous ***************************************
-
- ==============================================
- M1. What is the floating-point number representation on ULTRIX?
-
- The floating point format differs depending on which architecture the
- ULTRIX software is running on.
-
- Digital's RISC machines all use IEEE floating point representation
- with a little-endian byte ordering. You can easily convert between
- little and big endian ordering by reversing bytes within the floating
- point number.
-
- The VAX line uses a unique (although, given the popularity of VAXen)
- quite well known floating point format.
-
- The ULTRIX C libraries include routines which will translate between
- RISC (IEEE) and VAX floating point formats. Look under "ftoi" in
- either the online or hardcopy documentation.
-
- ==============================================
- M2. If the console is a graphics device, can it be used as a terminal for
- full-screen applications?
-
- The console emulates a dumb terminal, with no ability to address the screen.
- To run anything like a screen editor, you must start the window system.
-
- ==============================================
- M3. How do I read a tar image from a TK50 tape if my only TK50 is on a VMS
- machine?
-
- On VMS (assuming your tape drive on VMS is MUA0:) :
-
- mount/foreign/block=10240/record=10240 mua0:
- copy mua0: file.tar
-
- On Ultrix:
-
- dcp -i 'vms::where$logical:file.tar' file.tar
-
- ==============================================
- M4. Where can I get free source code for interesting programs on ULTRIX?
-
- The main FTP server for DEC is gatekeeper.dec.com, which maintains a
- large selection of sources from the net in general, as well as public
- code for ULTRIX, such as "monitor", "top" and other system-specific
- tools. ~ftp/pub/DEC has sources for several packages written by
- employees at Digital (though they are not supported Digital products),
- as well as some programs that required special changes to port to
- ULTRIX. More or less up to date copies the pub/DEC directory are also
- available on crl.dec.com and decuac.dec.com. None of these sources or
- utilities are "supported" by anyone other than their authors.
-
- ==============================================
- M5. Where can I get technical information on the DECstation family of machines?
-
- Technical information on the DS3100, DS5000/200, and TurboChannel are
- available in gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/specs:
-
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 184329 Nov 19 1990 DS3100.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 77017 Nov 19 1990 DS5000_200.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 1336 Nov 6 17:36 README
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 24758 Nov 19 1990 tc_cfb.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 77051 Nov 19 1990 tc_ether.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 29304 Nov 19 1990 tc_scsi.ps.Z
-
- Technical information on the new Personal DECstations 5000/20 and /25,
- the DECstation 5000/133 and DECstation 5000/240 are available on the
- net. Included are the Technical Overviews and Info Sheets for the
- products.
-
- The files are on gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/specs1.
-
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 159698 Dec 13 12:35 3maxp_info.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 336073 Dec 13 12:35 3maxp_teov.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 249185 Dec 13 12:35 3min_info.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 134107 Dec 13 12:35 maxine_info.ps.Z
- -r--r--r-- 1 root system 311201 Dec 13 12:35 maxine_teov.ps.Z
-
- "3maxp" ("3Max+") refers to the DS5000/240; "maxine" refers to the
- Personal DECstations.
-
- ==============================================
- M6. Where can I get performance information about DECstations?
-
- Performance information on some of Digital's systems is
- available in gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/performance:
-
- DECSTATION_FAMILY_PERF_SUMMARY_APR_92.PS
- decstation_family_perf_summary_apr_92.ps.Z
-
- Results of several well-known benchmarks for the DECstation 5000
- family
-
- DECSYSTEM_FAMILY_PERF_SUMMARY_MAY_92.PS
- decsystem_family_perf_summary_may_92.ps.Z
-
- Results of several well-known benchmarks for the DECsystem
- family
-
- VAXSTATION_FAMILY_PERF_SUMMARY_MAR_92.PS
- vaxstation_family_perf_summary_mar_92.ps.Z
-
- Results of 8 well-known benchmarks for the VAXstation 4000
- family
-
- DS5100_TPCA_INFORMIX_MAR92.PS
- ds5100_tpca_informix_mar92.ps.Z
-
- TPC Benchmark A for INFORMIX running on a DECsystem 5100
-
- DS5500_TPCA_INFORMIX_MAR92.PS
- ds5500_tpca_informix_mar92.ps.Z
-
- TPC Benchmark A for INFORMIX running on a DECsystem 5500
-
- DS5100_TPCB_INFORMIX_DEC3.PS
- ds5100_tpcb_informix_dec3.ps.Z
-
- TPC Benchmark B for INFORMIX running on a DECsystem 5100
-
- DS5500_TPCB_INFORMIX_DEC3.PS
- ds5500_tpcb_informix_dec3.ps.Z
-
- TPC Benchmark B for INFORMIX running on a DECsystem 5500
-
- DS5000_25_TPCB_INFORMIX_APR92.PS
- ds5000_25_tpcb_informix_apr92.ps.Z
-
- TPC Benchmark B for INFORMIX running on a DECsystem 5000 model 25
-
- DS5000_240_TPCA_SYBASE_AUG92.PS
- ds5000_240_tpca_sybase_aug92.ps.Z
-
- TPC Benchmark A for SYBASE running on a DECsystem 5000 model 240
-
-
- ==============================================
- M7. Why can't I submit a bug report by electronic mail?
-
- At this time, Digital does not accept bug reports by electronic mail. We
- hope that this unfortunate situation may change in the future. Please file
- a Software Performance Report (SPR) instead.
-
-
- ==============================================
- M8. How do I send mail to Digital employees?
-
- If you have Internet ftp capability, grab gatekeeper.dec.com:~ftp/gateway.doc,
- which contains every bit of relevant lore we've ever collected on this topic.
- If you must get by with what little information we have room for here in the
- FAQ, well, read on.
-
- The easiest way to find out how to get mail to a Digit is to have them
- send mail to you. If you get their mail, look at the headers (check
- the "From:" line, in particular) and try sending mail to the address
- as it appears to you. (If your Digit doesn't know how to send you
- mail, have them grab gateway.doc (it's DECWRL::"/gateway.doc" from the
- inside) and read it carefully.
-
- If you need to send mail to someone ``from scratch'', you will need to get
- them to tell you their address. If they say something like ``JOVE::VIXIE''
- then the right way to reach them is one of:
-
- vixie@jove.enet.dec.com
- vixie%jove.enet@relay.dec.com
- ...!uunet!decwrl!jove.enet!vixie
-
- If on the other hand they say something like ``I'm PAUL VIXIE @WRL,'' then
- you can try one of these:
-
- vixie@wrl.mts.dec.com
- vixie%wrl.mts@relay.dec.com
- ...!uunet!decwrl!wrl.mts!vixie
-
- In the best of all possible worlds they will say something like ``My address
- is <vixie@pa.dec.com>'' in which case you should send to one of:
-
- vixie@pa.dec.com
- vixie%pa.dec.com@relay.dec.com
- ...!uunet!decwrl!pa.dec.com!vixie
-
- If you try most or all of the above suggestions and can not figure out what
- you're doing wrong, send mail to our gateway postmaster, which is one of:
-
- postmaster@dec.com
- postmaster@decwrl.dec.com
- ...!uunet!decwrl!postmaster
-
- ==============================================
- M9. How do I get a list of available patches for my release of Ultrix?
-
- At this time, Digital does not publish lists of available patches.
- The Customer Support Centers will inform you if you call about a
- problem for which there is a patch.
-
- ==============================================
- M10. How can I get files available by anonymous FTP if I'm not connected
- to the Internet?
-
- One way is to use the DECWRL ftpmail server. To find out how to use
- it, send a one-line message to ftpmail@pa.dec.com (or
- ...!uunet!decwrl!ftpmail or decwrl::ftpmail). The subject line can be
- anything you want since it will be ignored. The text of the message
- should be one unquoted lowercase word: "help".
-
- ==============================================
- M11. How can I write documentation in Bookreader format? **NEW**
-
- On ULTRIX, VMS, SunOS, and Windows, DECwrite will produce Bookreader
- files. On VMS, VAX Document will also produce Bookreader files.
- Digital will provide information about the format of Bookreader format
- files upon request, although it is apparently difficult to work with
- (most have concluded that it's not worth the trouble). If you're
- interested in getting the format, send mail to the FAQ Editor, Win
- Treese (treese@crl.dec.com), and he'll see about getting the
- information.
- [Patrick Stephens, stephens@galvia.enet.dec.com]
- [Win Treese, treese@crl.dec.com]
-
- ==============================================
- M12. Why does ULTRIX restrict the number of users on the system? **NEW**
-
- AT&T requires Digital to pay royalties on UNIX based on the number of
- users of a system. Other vendors may have different arrangements with AT&T,
- or may choose other methods to comply with the terms.
- [Win Treese, treese@lcs.mit.edu]
-
- ==============================================
- M13. Where else can I discuss ULTRIX with other users? **NEW**
-
- The decstation-managers mailing list is a rapid-turnaround vehicle for
- Ultrix (and maybe OSF/1 someday) administrators to reach a pool of
- people with similar expertise who might be able to help them resolve a
- problem they're having. There's no discussion on the list--just
- questions and summaries of responses to those questions.
-
- To join the list, send a request to decstation-managers-request@ornl.gov.
-
- [Dave Sill, de5@ornl.gov]
-
- ==============================================
- M14. Where can I get on-line copies of the DEC Software Product Descriptions
- (SPD)? **NEW*
-
- Most SPDs can be found on gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/DEC/DECinfo/SPD. They
- are numbered in the usual way; check the file "index" if you aren't sure
- of the number. Note that there are over 800, so 'ls' will get you a
- long listing!
- Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu news.answers:4355 rec.humor.oracle:110
- Newsgroups: news.answers,rec.humor.oracle
- Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!kinzler@moose.cs.indiana.edu
- From: oracle-request@cs.indiana.edu
- Subject: [rec.humor.oracle] Intro to the Usenet Oracle (Monthly Posting)
- Message-ID: <1992Dec1.235016.11181@news.cs.indiana.edu>
- Followup-To: rec.humor.oracle.d
- Lines: 206
- Reply-To: oracle-request@cs.indiana.edu
- Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 23:50:06 -0500
- Approved: oracle-mod@cs.indiana.edu
- Expires: 3 Jan 1993 00:00:01 GMT
-
- Archive-name: usenet-oracle-intro
- Last-modified: Oct 1 09:11
-
- "The folly of mistaking a paradox
- for a discovery, a metaphor for a
- proof, a torrent of verbiage for a
- spring of capital truths, and
- oneself for an oracle, is inborn in
- us." -- Paul Vale'ry, 1895
-
-
- THE USENET ORACLE
-
- The Usenet Oracle is available to answer all your questions. You may
- mail them to:
- oracle@cs.indiana.edu
-
- The "Subject:" of the message must be something like "Oracle Most Wise,
- please tell me ...". Actually, all it has to have is "tell me" or
- "tellme" somewhere in it. Capitalization doesn't matter. The body of
- the mail should contain only your question. You should receive a reply
- within a few days at most, probably much sooner.
-
- In the meantime, the Oracle may require that you answer a question for
- it as payment for its services. You will receive this question in the
- mail. You should respond with as most wise and witty an answer as you
- can. Mail the response to oracle@cs.indiana.edu, preserving the
- message's "Subject:" line. Usually, this can be done by simply replying
- to the mail through the normal means in your mail program, for example,
- using the "r" command in the standard Berkeley mail program. Actually,
- the subject just has to contain the word "answer" and the question
- number somewhere in it. The body of your mail response should contain
- only your answer -- you don't have to include the question itself.
- Please try to respond within at most a day's time. If you take longer,
- there is a chance that the question will be answered by someone else
- first.
-
- Mailing the Oracle with the word "help" in the "Subject:" line will get
- you the most recent version of this help file mailed back. If you mail
- the Oracle with "ask me" or "askme" somewhere in the subject, the Oracle
- will send you a question to answer, if there are any available.
-
- Your questions, comments and even complaints about the Oracle are
- welcome. Please address them to oracle-people@cs.indiana.edu.
-
- ETIQUETTE
-
- The Usenet Oracle is intended primarily as a cooperative effort for
- creative humor. Since its main purpose is just to let folks have fun,
- there are intentionally few rules. However, an etiquette has developed
- among its participants.
-
- A series of identical questions submitted is not appreciated since the
- same person often ends up answering many of them. It is okay to
- resubmit a question after you have received a reply, especially if you
- believe that the answerer did not do it justice.
-
- If you find yourself unable to give due consideration to a question you
- are to answer, it may be better to not answer the question at all than
- to give it a trivial answer and disappoint the questioner. However,
- doing this too much can cause a buildup of unanswered questions and slow
- down the Oracle's response time for everyone.
-
- It's probably worthwhile to read some issues of the Usenet Oracularities
- (see below) to get an idea of the conventions and style of writing in
- Oracle questions and answers. Here are some general guidelines for
- those upon whom the Muse of the Oracle has descended and who are to
- write an answer as an incarnation of the Oracle:
-
- - Creativity and humor are valued. Many people find the anonymity of
- the Oracle a license to express themselves creatively and uniquely
- -- often to surprising success.
-
- - Participants in the Oracle like to feel they've gotten out of it as
- much as they've put in. Please keep this in mind when answering
- questions.
-
- - Remember that brevity and clarity are key points of good writing.
- Overly long answers will reduce an Oracularity's chance of being
- published in the Usenet Oracularities (see below) since it must
- really be worth the extra length to have it selected to be read by
- tens of thousands of people.
-
- - In general, avoid obscenity, slang, jargon, and obscure references.
- People of all different backgrounds located all over the world use
- the Oracle.
-
- - Try to be sensitive to new participants or to people who seem to
- have asked serious questions.
-
- - Don't flame the questioner for not asking a "good question". An
- off-the-wall or vague question calls for creativity, not rudeness,
- in the answer -- consider it a challenge.
-
- THE USENET ORACULARITIES
-
- The Oracle's priesthood receives a duplicate copy of all answered
- questions, or Oracularities as they're called. This is so that the best
- ones can be selected and posted to rec.humor.oracle and a mail
- distribution list as the Usenet Oracularities -- the chronicle of the
- mythos of the Usenet Oracle. Your use of this program implies your
- approval of this usage.
-
- Rec.humor.oracle is a moderated newsgroup. If your news system is
- properly configured, any postings you make to rec.humor.oracle will be
- forwarded directly to the Oracle and so you can ask questions of the
- Oracle by posting to the newsgroup. Rec.humor.oracle.d is unmoderated
- and anyone may post to it. It is a public forum for discussion and
- questions about the Oracle. If your system doesn't carry these
- newsgroups, encourage your news administrator to do so!
-
- Readers of the Oracularities may mail in ratings of each published
- Oracularity, the results of which are returned to the authors of the
- Oracularities and published in a later posting. They are also used to
- select occasional postings to rec.humor.funny. Instructions on how to
- mail in your ratings are given at the top of each issue.
-
- If you don't have access to rec.humor.oracle and would like to receive
- the Oracularities via mail, send mail to
-
- oracle-request@cs.indiana.edu
-
- to get on (or off) the mail distribution list. Include the word
- "subscribe" (or "unsubscribe") in the "Subject:" line.
-
- Back postings and ratings are available via anonymous ftp on
- cs.indiana.edu (129.79.254.191) in the directory pub/oracle, or via mail
- -- send the word "help" in the body of a mail to
-
- mailserv@cs.indiana.edu
-
- for more details.
-
- ANONYMITY
-
- The Oracle is a confidential and anonymous service. The anonymity of
- the participants is preserved within all Oracle mailings and
- Oracularities postings. However, if you append a signature file to your
- mail, this will appear in your question or answer. Signature files are
- edited out from Oracularities postings. If you do not wish to remain
- anonymous, you may include a phrase in your answer like "incarnated as
- <insert your name and/or address here>".
-
- DISCLAIMER
-
- Since its users actually give the answers to all questions, neither the
- Oracle nor its priesthood take any responsibility for the content of the
- questions or answers.
-
- HISTORY
-
- Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many Oracles who have
- been consulted by many mortals, and some immortals. The great Hercules
- was told by the Delphic Oracle to serve Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, for
- twelve years to atone for the murder of his own children. It was the
- Oracle of Ammon who told King Cepheus to chain his daughter Andromeda to
- the rocks of Joppa to appease the terrible sea monster that was ravaging
- the coasts. That solution was never tested, though, as Perseus saved
- the girl in the nick of time.
-
- With the advent of the electronic age, and especially high-speed e-mail
- communication, the spirit of the Oracles found a new outlet, and we now
- recognize another great Oracle, the Usenet Oracle.
-
- Local oracle programs have existed in various places for many years.
- The Usenet Oracle was inspired by the "oracle" program written by Lars
- Huttar (huttar@occs.oberlin.edu) and posted to alt.sources in August
- 1989. I'm told that Huttar wrote his program after being given a
- description of an oracle program at Murray Hill Bell Labs that may have
- been written by Robert T Morris. Other early oracle programs were at
- Interactive Systems (by Peter S Langston circa 1980), Johns Hopkins
- University (run by Erica Liebman circa 1984) and another by Morris at
- Harvard University.
-
- Steve Kinzler (kinzler@cs.indiana.edu), a graduate student and systems
- administrator at Indiana University, installed Huttar's program on
- silver.ucs.indiana.edu, where it proved to be quite popular. The best
- Oracularities were posted to in.bizarre, a group local to Indiana.
-
- Ray Moody (moody@pittpa.cray.com), a graduate student at Purdue
- University, after correspondence with Kinzler, wrote the core software
- for the Usenet Oracle, a mail-based oracle program to be run on
- iuvax.cs.indiana.edu for net-wide use, where it proved to be an
- immediate success.
-
- Kinzler continued development of the software, adding support for the
- Oracularities postings and ratings and, eventually, the Oracle
- Priesthood -- a hardy and loyal band of volunteers who read through the
- hundreds of questions and answers each week to choose the best for
- publication, thus helping to make the Usenet Oracle self-sustaining.
- Jon Monsarrat (jgm@cs.brown.edu) and Randal Schwartz
- (merlyn@iwarp.intel.com) also contributed to aspects of the software
- development. Michael Nolan (nolan@helios.unl.edu) went through the
- newsgroup creation process for the rec.humor.oracle newsgroups.
-
- Of course, it is the thousands of Oracle participants over the years who
- have created the personality, mythos and history of the Usenet Oracle.
- Long live the Usenet Oracle (in all its incarnations)!
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Written: 8 October 1989 Steve Kinzler
- Last Revised: 1 October 1992 kinzler@cs.indiana.edu
-
- Thanks to Joshua.R.Poulson@cyber.widener.edu and Jim Cheetham
- (J.Cheetham@bra0116.wins.icl.co.uk) for assistance with portions of this
- document.
- Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu alt.uu.announce:24 alt.uu.future:336 news.answers:4498
- Newsgroups: alt.uu.announce,alt.uu.future,news.answers
- Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!wupost!gumby!yale!yale.edu!spool.mu.edu!uunet!mcsun!news.funet.fi!funic!nntp.hut.fi!usenet
- From: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
- Subject: ADMIN,DOC: Usenet University FAQ
- Message-ID: <1992Dec9.004306.22464@nntp.hut.fi>
- Followup-To: alt.uu.future
- Summary: what is UU; info on current UU groups, ftp & gopher archives
- Keywords: self, distance, education, uu, volunteer, learning, cooperation
- Sender: usenet@nntp.hut.fi (Usenet pseudouser id)
- Supersedes: <1992Nov10.112012.993@nntp.hut.fi>
- Nntp-Posting-Host: lusmu.cs.hut.fi
- Reply-To: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
- Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1992 00:43:06 GMT
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Expires: 5 Jan 93 00:00:00 GMT
- Lines: 344
-
- Archive-name: usenet-univ-FAQ
- Last-modified: 1992-11-11
-
- Posted monthly on alt.uu.announce and alt.uu.future (and news.answers).
-
- Available by anonymous ftp on host nic.funet.fi, in file
- pub/doc/uu/FAQ and via the gopher server at Helsinki University of
- Technology otax.tky.hut.fi/70, Topics/Learning.
-
- Contains the "what-is-uu" document
- (nic.funet.fi:/pub/doc/uu/what-is-uu) and a current list of UU groups
- (nic.funet.fi:/pub/doc/uu/newsgroups), both of which plus this
- document are also available in gopherspace.
-
- Followups on this article are directed to alt.uu.future.
-
- ----------------------------------------
- Recent happenings:
-
- - joe@astro.as.utexas.edu (Joseph C Wang) is maintaining a list
- of volunteers willing to answer questions on particular topics
- via email (Usenet University Consultants List - New Network Academy).
- The list as last posted is article <82789@ut-emx.uucp>, a copy of which
- is available also at nic.funet.fi pub/doc/uu/consultants and via
- otax.tky.hut.fi gopher server.
- - esz001@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Will Overington) is working with Esperanto
- in alt.uu.lang.esperanto.misc
- ----------------------------------------
- What is UU?
-
- Contents:
-
- 1. What is Usenet University?
- 2. What the name means and how to participate in UU
- 3. Goals and principles
- 4. Administration
- 5. Copyright on the articles and learning material
- 6. Technology
- 7. Disciplines or division of topics
- 8. Later steps
- 9. What to do to keep the UU ball rolling and growing?
-
-
- 1. What is Usenet University?
-
- Usenet University, or UU (not to be confused with Uppsala University)
- is, or more accurately will be, a society of people interested in
- learning, teaching or tutoring. There is no formal organization or
- funding at least as of yet, and the concept exists currently mostly in
- the newsgroup alt.uu.future which was created on June 12, 1992. It is
- the group for discussing the future of Usenet University, and
- discussions on alt.uu.future will to a large extent shape what the UU
- will become. Many people have already participated on the discussion
- and influenced the shaping of this document. (If you do not get
- alt.uu.future, contact your news administrator for more information if
- it's a problem with the propagation or some other reason - the
- administrator often can provide a newsgroup when requested).
-
-
- 2. What the name means and how to participate in UU
-
- "Usenet" refers to the global conferencing network used as a medium or
- one of the media for Usenet University, as well as the "spirit" of UU
- - UU is open to anyone who can access it, free for expressing ideas,
- is a bit anarchistic (meaning no central administration and no
- hierarchy) in nature, and thus as Usenet newsgroups UU will be what
- the participants cause it to be - hopefully a functioning open venue
- for novel thoughts and ideas about learning and other topics.
-
- "University" refers to the "community" aspect of UU, not so much to
- "university level" or "academic discipline", neither does it mean that
- there are specific plans for UU to become a university where you can
- get a certificate from. This doesn't mean to say that certificates or
- recgonition of Usenet University by accepted academic would be
- unthinkable, just that it isn't central to the concept of UU at least
- at this point in the development. Certificates and recognition
- probably will come via cooperation with existing organization if they
- will.
-
- For now, Usenet Univesity will operate under the "alt" hierarchy, as
- "alt.uu.*". It would be desirable to later move to a separate
- distribution, out from under alt when there will be numerous
- newsgroups for various areas of learning. Thus, there would be a
- separate distrubution and hierarchy like (just an example)
-
- uu.future
- uu.lang.esperanto.beg
- uu.lang.esperanto.material
- uu.lang.esperanto.exercises
- uu.comp.lang.pascal.env.gnu
- uu.comp.lang.pascal.beg
-
- However, "uu" is already taken by Uppsala University. Alternative
- names possible for the distribution are World University (wu),
- Planetary University (pu), Virtual University etc. There will be time
- to discuss and decide this when the change to a separate distribution
- and hierarchy is made - for now the name is Usenet University and the
- hierarchy is alt.uu, ie. the hierarchy will be something like the
- above list with "alt." prepended.
-
-
- 3. Goals and principles
-
- One primary goal of UU is to use Usenet communications to offer
- participants possibilities to learn things, to educate themselves, to
- teach others, to exchange information on learning materials, tools and
- techniques as well as publish learning material itself. In this
- respect UU will aim to become a kind of "place to learn".
-
- Connected with this, a primary principle of UU is openness, to stay
- open for anyone passing by just willing to learn, with little formal
- qualifications or requirements. To try to commit to this principle
- much of the activity will happen on open newsgroups. It probably will
- be desirable to have some kind of classifications in some of the
- groups for "beginner" and "advanced" topics to avoid problems of
- participants having very different vocabularies, concepts, levels of
- expertise etc. and thus communications problems. To implement
- classification and make groups more worthwhile with moderated
- newsgroups, a possibility would be to have a matching unmoderated one
- from which "the cream" will be replicated on the moderated group.
-
- One important goal is to offer several alternative ways for learning.
- People learn best with different ways - some learn by reading books on
- their own, some by browsing around and experimenting, some prefer
- tutors or close teacher/student relationships, some prefer
- lectures/classes with strict structure, some learn by doing. All
- these should be provided with an opportunity to learn with the style
- they prefer - it might mean there would be several groups for one
- topic, using different methodologies.
-
- One goal is to create, organize and offer references to learning
- material, to maintain lists of literature, Usenet newsgroups, ftp
- sites and services, libraries and so on relevant to fields
-