Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uiuccsb!essick From: essick@uiuccsb.UUCP Newsgroups: net.news Subject: Re: A Thought on Newsgroup Structure (lo - (nf) Message-ID: <5248@uiucdcs.UUCP> Date: Mon, 30-Jan-84 22:36:56 EST Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.5248 Posted: Mon Jan 30 22:36:56 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 06:38:24 EST Lines: 44 #R:druxt:-88400:uiuccsb:3400007:000:2187 uiuccsb!essick Jan 29 13:06:00 1984 I think that working on mechanisms to dynamically add and delete newsgroups (or subgroups) is not the right way to solve the problem of "there's not enough structure out here". Adding and deleting newsgroups at this level (followup groups) is just another way to map two dimensions (newsgroups and the discussions within them) into one dimension (even more newsgroups). This works fine for Mr. A. Square in Flatland, but we're blessed with being able to see a few more dimensions. Why not develop and use a tool that can handle two dimensions? At the University of Illinois, we've been using the notesfile system for 2 years on Unix. Our PLATO system has been using the notesfile concept for 8 years. A notesfile contains a time-ordered (by inception) list of discussions. Each discussion contains a base note and a time-ordered list of responses. You get commands to skip around within a discussion, skip over the rest of boring discussions plus the usual set of write a response and mail to the author commands. Here are a few things that the notesfile system does that the news system doesn't: @ skip the rest of a discussion @ easily see other articles in the same discussion @ index pages of discussions Notesfiles are handy for other things than reading about Wombats. We use them for project logs, problem reports, and to help determine policy. The fact that we can quickly (one key) go back and see what the problem was when a solution comes around makes it very handy. The archiving facilities are pretty extensive. How does doing things like "place all the discussions from this notesfile older than X days and marked solved into an archive" and then being able to reference the archive in the same way you reference the active notesfile sound? I've managed to get a little off track. I really want to stress the fact that I think all these extended-newsgroup ideas are just trying to squeeze two dimensions into one and that it would be better to use a tool that understood about the extra dimensions. Why do people prefer screen editors like vi to line editors like ed? -- Ray Essick, University of Illinois -- ihnp4!uiucdcs!essick, essick.uiuc@rand-relay