Date: Sat, 29 Jul 1995 20:39:42 -0400
From: dj (DJ Delorie)
To: gillham AT andrews DOT edu
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Subject: Re: C.O.M.D Noise Level


> Hmm, I personally don't think the current 'noise level' is a problem,
> but I read the newgroup, I'm not on the mailing list.  I thought the
> newgroup was meant to replace the mailing list?  As for FAQ type posts,

The newsgroup was intended to make it easier for people to manage the
traffic.  The newsgroup and mailing list get almost exactly the same
messages.

> perhaps actually posting a FAQ monthly would resolve some of these?  I
> see the 'mini-FAQ' posts, but have never seen an actually FAQ posted.
> Most newgroups actually post the FAQ, not a symbolic link.  Perhaps this
> is because of the mailing list gateway?

No, it's because it's so big.  Since the topic of the newsgroup is
djgpp, and djgpp is *files*, it's assumed that if you can get djgpp
you can get the faq the same way, so there's no reason to post it.

> If the concern is about the signal/noise ratio on the _mailing
> list_, then perhaps the moderating should be done at the news <-> mail
> relay?  I don't think clamping down on the newsgroup, just because of a
> few stray posts, is a good idea.

I try to remove some postings, like subscribe messages, but they're
hard to reliably detect - mostly because the people who mistakenly
post them to the mailing list also often get the format wrong also.