Beijing Paradise BBS Backup/PARADISE.ISO/software/BBSDOORW/UFG_103.ZIP/ALT.INT

Internet Message Format | 1989-07-08 | 16.3 KB

From pacbell!ames!sun-barr!decwrl!purdue!spaf Sat Jul  8 08:35:28 PDT 1989
Article 416 of news.announce.newusers:
Xref: hoptoad news.lists:864 news.groups:10618 news.announce.newusers:416
Path: hoptoad!pacbell!ames!sun-barr!decwrl!purdue!spaf
>From: [e-mail] (Gene Spafford)
Newsgroups: news.lists,news.groups,news.announce.newusers
Subject: Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies (Updated: 19 June 1989)
Summary: describes the following alternate hierarchies: alt, bionet, biz,
    gnu, inet/ddn, pubnet, unix-pc, u3b
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 20 Jun 89 04:27:52 GMT
Expires: 18 Sep 89 04:27:52 GMT
Followup-To: news.lists
Organization: Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ.
Lines: 320
Approved: [e-mail]
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>

Original-from: hoptoad!gnu (John Gilmore) and [e-mail] (Gene Spafford)
[Most recent change: 19 June 1989 by [e-mail] (Gene Spafford)]

Introduction
------------
The Usenet software allows the support and transport of hierarchies of
newsgroups not part of the "traditional" Usenet through use of the
distribution mechanism. These hierarchies of groups are available to
sites wishing to support them and finding a feed.  In general, these
groups are not carried by the entire network due to their volume, a
restricted sphere of interest, or a different set of administrative
rules and concerns.

In general it is a bad idea to forward these newsgroups to your
neighbors without asking them first; they should only be received at a
site by choice.  Not only is this generally-accepted net etiquette, it
helps to preserve the freedom to do and say as the posters please in
these newsgroups, since the only people who get them are those who
asked to get them.  This freedom is more restricted in the Usenet as a
whole, since every mainstream posting and every mainstream newsgroup
name must be acceptable to a much wider audience than is present in
these hierarchies.   Due to the sheer size of the mainstream Usenet,
extra-long or controversial postings are more likely to cause problems
when posted to the Usenet; however, these alternative hierarchies exist
precisely to support those kinds of postings (if germane to the
hierarchy).

Usually, there is is no restriction on getting these groups as long
as you have the capacity to receive, store, and forward the groups;
2.10.3 or 2.11 news is required to make the distribution mechanism
work properly for these groups.  How to join each distribution is
described below.

Note that the "uunet" service carries all of these hierarchies.
Contact uunet!uunet-request for subscription details.

Also note -- the lists in this article are totally unofficial and
possibly incomplete or inaccurate.  I try to keep the lists up-to-date,
but make no guarantee that any of the information contained corresponds
with the named groups in any significant way.  Corrections and comments
should be mailed directly to me.

Alt
---
"alt" is a small collection of newsgroups which are being distributed
by a collection of sites that choose to carry them.  Many Usenet sites
are not interested in these groups.  Here is a recent list
of the 'alt" newsgroups:

alt.activism        Activities for activists.
alt.aquaria        The aquarium & related as a hobby.
alt.bbs            Computer BBS systems & software.
alt.california        Discussion of the state and the state of mind.
alt.co-ops        Discussion about co-operatives.
alt.config        Alternative subnet discussions and connectivity.
alt.cult-movies        Movies with a cult following (e.g., Rocky Horror PS)
alt.cyb-sys        Cybernetic systems.
alt.cyberpunk        High-tech low-life.
alt.dev.null        The ultimate in moderated newsgroups. (Moderated)
alt.drugs        Recreational pharmaceuticals and related flames.
alt.emusic        Exotic music discussions.
alt.fax            Faxing documents -- protocols, equipment, etc.
alt.fishing        Fishing as a hobby and sport.
alt.flame        Alternative, literate, pithy, succinct screaming.
alt.gourmand        Recipes & cooking info. (Moderated)
alt.great-lakes        Discussions of the Great Lakes and adjacent places.
alt.hypertext        Discussion of hypertext -- uses, transport, etc.
alt.individualism    Philosophies where individual rights are paramount.
alt.msdos.programmer    For the serious MS/DOS programmer (no for sale ads).
alt.postmodern        Postmodernism, semiotics, deconstruction, and the like.
alt.prose        Postings of original writings, fictional & otherwise.
alt.prose.d        Discussions about postings in alt.prose.
alt.recovery        12-step groups (such as AA, ACA, GA, etc)
alt.restaurants        Restaurant reviews.
alt.rhode_island    Discussion of the great little state.
alt.rissa        For discussing the one and only rissa
alt.rmgroup        For the people who like to rmgroup/newgroup things
alt.rock-n-roll        Counterpart to alt.sex and alt.drugs....
alt.sca            Society for Creative Anachronism
alt.sex            Postings of a prurient nature.
alt.sex.bondage        Postings about dominance/submission.
alt.slack        Posting relating to the Church of the Subgenius.
alt.sources        Alternative source code, unmoderated. Caveat Emptor.
alt.sources.amiga    Technically-oriented Amiga PC sources.  (Moderated)
alt.test        Alternative subnetwork testing.
alt.weemba        Talk & flames about the one & only Weemba.

Submissions to the moderated alt.gourmand group should be mailed to
[e-mail] (Brian Reid).

Submissions to the moderated Amiga sources group should be mailed to
[e-mail]

You can join the "alt subnet" by finding a site in your area that
carries the groups.  Either send mail to the administrators of the
sites you connect to, or post something to a local "general" or
"wanted" newsgroup for your area .  If no sites nearby are getting
them, you can get them from uunet.

Bionet
------
There is a newsgroup hierarchy for topics interesting to biologists
called "bionet" originating from NET.BIO.NET and carried on a growing
number of machines including rutgers, phri, mit-eddie, ukma, and all
of the machines at UCSD.  Contact Eliot Lear <[e-mail]> for
more details.  The current newsgroup list looks like this:

bionet.general            General BIONET announcements.
bionet.jobs            Scientific Job opportunities.
bionet.journals.contents    Journal contents.
bionet.molbio.ageing        Cellular and organismal ageing.
bionet.molbio.bio-matrix    Computer applications to biological databases.
bionet.molbio.embldatabank    Info about the EMBL Nucleic acid database.
bionet.molbio.evolution        How genes and proteins have evolved.
bionet.molbio.genbank        Info about the GenBank Nucleic acid database.
bionet.molbio.gene-org        How genes are organized on chromosomes.
bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts    Requests for information and lab reagents.
bionet.molbio.news        Research news of interest to the community.
bionet.molbio.pir        The PIR protein sequencing database.
bionet.molbio.proteins        Research on proteins and protein databases.
bionet.molbio.swiss-prot    Discussions on the Swiss Protein database.
bionet.population-bio        ??
bionet.sci-resources        Info on funding agencies & programs.
bionet.software            General discussion of software for BIONET.
bionet.software.contrib        Info on programs contributed to BIONET.
bionet.software.pc        Info on PC software for scientists.
bionet.software.pc.comm        Info on PC communications software.
bionet.technology.conversion    Info on biomass and waste treatment.

Biz
---
"Biz" is a distribution of newsgroups that are carried and propagated
by sites interested in the world of business products around them -- in
particular, computer products and services.  This includes product
announcements, announcements of fixes and enhancements, product
reviews, and postings of demo software.  Current biz groups include:

biz.config        Biz Usenet configuration and administration
biz.control        Control information and messages
biz.newgroup        ???
biz.test        Biz newsgroup test messages
biz.comp.hardware    ???
biz.comp.software    ???
biz.comp.software.demos    ???
biz.comp.services    ???
biz.comp.telebit    ???
biz.comp.mcs        ???

Feeds can be obtained from ddsw1, spl1, and telly.on.ca among others.

GNU
---
"gnu.all" is a set of newsgroups that are gated bi-directionally with
the DoD/NSF Internet mailing lists concerned with the GNU Project of
the Free Software Foundation.  GNU (GNU's Not Unix) will be a complete
operating system with freely redistributable source code.  The GNU
Project is led by Richard Stallman.

Current groups include:

Newsgroup        Description
---------        -----------
gnu.announce        Status and announcements from the Project.  (Moderated)
gnu.bash.bug        Bourne Again SHell bug reports and suggested fixes.
gnu.chess        Discussion of the GNU Chess program
gnu.config        GNU's Not Usenet administration and configuration
gnu.emacs        Editor/development environment and occasional sources
gnu.emacs.bug        GNU Emacs bug reports and suggested fixes
gnu.emacs.gnews        News reading under GNU Emacs using Weemba's Gnews.
gnu.emacs.gnus        News reading under GNU Emacs using GNUS (in English).
gnu.emacs.lisp.manual    Working group on the GNU Emacs LISP Programmer's Manual
gnu.emacs.vms        Discussion of the VMS port of GNU Emacs
gnu.g++            Discussion of the GNU C++ Compiler and GDB+ Debugger.
gnu.g++.bug        G++ and GDB+ bug reports and suggested fixes.
gnu.g++.lib.bug        G++ library bug reports and suggested fixes.
gnu.gcc            Discussion of the GNU C Compiler
gnu.gcc.bug        GNU C Compiler bug reports and suggested fixes.
gnu.gdb.bug        GNU DeBugger bug reports and suggested fixes
gnu.ghostscript.bug    GNU Ghostscript interpreter bugs.
gnu.test        GNU's Not Usenet alternative sub-network testing
gnu.utils.bug        Bugs in GNU utility programs (e.g., gnumake)

Usenet sites carrying the gnu.all newsgroups include bloom-beacon.mit.edu,
bu-cs.bu.edu, decwrl.dec.com, cs.utexas.edu, mailrus.cc.umich.edu,
mandrill.ces.cwru.edu, osu-cis, cs.purdue.edu, rutgers.edu, telly.on.ca,
tut.cis.ohio-state.edu, uccba.uc.edu, and uunet.uu.net, and many more.  Ask
usenet@any of these sites for a feed, or send mail to
[e-mail] to find someone who can offer them you.

Questions about GNU can be directed to [e-mail] or:
   Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   675 Mass Ave
   Cambridge, MA 02139
   USA
   [phone]

Inet/DDN
--------
Another alternative hierarchy is the "inet/ddn" distribution.  This
consists of many newsgroups bearing names similar to traditional Usenet
groups and corresponding to Arpa discussion lists.  These groups are
circulated using the NNTP transport mechanism amongst sites on the
Internet in an attempt to reduce the number of copies of these groups
flowing through the mail (some sites get these groups via UUCP and
other tranpost mechanisms, but the volume can be substantial and load
may be significant without a high-speed link).  Further details may be
obtained by writing to Erik Fair ([e-mail]).

Current inet groups are:
comp.ai.edu        Applications of Artificial Intelligence to Education.
comp.ai.vision        Artifical Intelligence Vision Research. (Moderated)
comp.dcom.lans.hyperchannel    Hyperchannel networks within an IP network.
comp.dcom.lans.v2lni    Proteon Pronet/V2LNI Ring networks.
comp.editors        Topics related to computerized text editing.
comp.edu.composition    Writing instruction in computer-based classrooms.
comp.lang.asm370    Programming in IBM System/370 Assembly Language.
comp.lang.clu        The CLU language & related topics. (Moderated)
comp.lang.forth.mac    The CSI MacForth programming environment.
comp.lang.icon        Topics related to the ICON programming language.
comp.lang.idl        IBL (Interface Description Language) related topics.
comp.lang.lisp.franz    The Franz Lisp programming language.
comp.lang.lisp.x    The XLISP language system.
comp.lang.rexx        The REXX command langauge.
comp.lang.scheme.c    The Scheme language environment.
comp.lang.visual    Visual programming languages.
comp.lsi.cad        Electrical Computer Aided Design.
comp.mail.multi-media    Multimedia Mail.
comp.music        Applications of computers in music research.
comp.os.aos        Topics related to Data General's AOS/VS.
comp.os.cpm.amethyst    Discussion of Amethyst, CP/M-80 software package.
comp.os.rsts        Topics related to the PDP-11 RSTS/E operating system.
comp.os.v        The V distributed operating system from Stanford.
comp.periphs.printers    Information on printers.
comp.protocols.iso.dev-environ    The ISO Development Environment.
comp.protocols.iso.x400    X400 mail protocol discussions.  (Moderated)
comp.protocols.iso.x400.gateway    X400 mail gateway discussions.  (Moderated)
comp.protocols.pcnet    Topics related to PCNET (a personal computer network).
comp.protocols.pup    The Xerox PUP network protocols.
comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains    Topics related to Domain Style names.
comp.soft-sys.andrew    The Andrew software system from CMU.
comp.sys.cdc        Control Data Corporation Computers (e.g., Cybers).
comp.sys.handhelds    Handheld computers and programmable calculators.
comp.sys.intel.ipsc310    Anything related to Xenix on an Intel 310.
comp.sys.northstar    Northstar microcomputer users.
comp.sys.super        Supercomputers.
comp.sys.ti.explorer    The Texas Instruments Explorer.
comp.sys.zenith        Heath terminals and related Zenith products.
comp.terminals.bitgraph    The BB&N BitGraph Terminal.
comp.terminals.tty5620    AT&T Dot Mapped Display Terminals (5620 and BLIT).
comp.theory        Theoretical Computer Science.
comp.theory.cell-automata    Discussion of all aspects of cellular automata.
comp.theory.dynamic-sys    Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems.
comp.theory.self-org-sys    Topics related to self-organization.
comp.unix.cray        Cray computers and their operating systems.
news.software.nntp    The Network News Transfer Protocol.
rec.games.vectrex    The Vectrex game system.
rec.mag.fsfnet        A Science Fiction "fanzine." (Moderated)
sci.bio.technology    Any topic relating to biotechnology.
sci.math.num-analysis    Numerical Analysis.
sci.philosophy.meta    Discussions within the scope of "MetaPhilosophy."
soc.culture.esperanto    The neutral international language Esperanto.

ddn.mgt-bulletin    The DDN Management Bulletin from SRI-NIC.
ddn.newsletter    The DDN Newsletter from SRI-NIC.

Pubnet
------
The "pubnet" distribution is for public-access systems and was originated
by Bill Wisner.  Current groups include:

pubnet.config    Pubnet connectivity discussions.
pubnet.nixpub    The "nixpub" list of public access UNIXes.
pubnet.sources    Software of interest to BBS users and sysops.
pubnet.talk    Miscellaneous BBS talk.
pubnet.test    Pubnet subnet testing.
pubnet.wanted    "Wanted" messages with a limited audience.
pubnet.sysops   Discussions between sysops of BBS systems.

Currently, the following sites receive the group, and the system admins
there can be contacted for more info or to establish a feed:  chinet,
dasys1, ddsw1, gryphon, icus, igloo, killer, ncoast, netsys, qetzal,
telly, mit-eddie and tapa.

Unix-PC
-------
Another such hierarchy is the "unix-pc" distribution.  This consists of
groups devoted to users of the AT&T Unix-PC.  These groups were
originated as a mailing list started by three owners of AT&T Unix PCs:
Gary Smith, David Dalton and Kathy Vincent.  As the list expanded, it
turned into a newsgroup hierarchy, and more and more sites began to
carry the groups; hundreds of sites now carry these groups.  To recieve
them, you need to contact a site already getting them; att, gatech,
mit-eddie, psuvax1, ucsd and ukma are well-known sites getting these
groups and the admins there may be willing to help find a feed should
you desire (and ask nicely); uunet also carries these groups. The
unix-pc groups circulated include:

unix-pc.bugs        Bug reports, fixes & workarounds.
unix-pc.general     General information and discussion.
unix-pc.sources     Source code to various programs.
unix-pc.uucp         Configuration and management of uucp on Unix-PCs.
unix-pc.test         Test group.

U3B
---
Groups dealing with AT&T 3B{2,5,15,20,4000} computers -- everything
except for the UNIX PC/3B1.  Both uunet and ames carry these groups.
The groups are "administered" by Len Rose ([e-mail]).

u3b.config    3B Distribution configuration
u3b.misc    3B Miscellaneous Discussions
u3b.sources    Sources for AT&T 3B software.
u3b.tech    3B Technical Discussions
u3b.test    3B Distribution Testing

--
Gene Spafford
NSF/Purdue/U of Florida  Software Engineering Research Center,
Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004
Internet:  [e-mail]    uucp:    ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf