From tal@Warren.MENTORG.COM Tue Aug 17 20:14:20 1993
From: tal@Warren.MENTORG.COM (Tom Limoncelli)
Newsgroups: news.software.nntp
Subject: Re: inet (was Re: INN 1.4 Patches)
Date: 15 Aug 1993 23:08:36 -0400
Organization: Mentor Graphics -- IC Group, Warren, NJ, USA
Distribution: inet
NNTP-Posting-Host: sdl.warren.mentorg.com
X-Newsreader: NN version 6.4.19 #2

In <24lvqiINNpos@skigo.graphics.cornell.edu> mkc@Graphics.Cornell.edu (Mitch Collinsworth) writes:

>Would someone please explain what inet *is*?  I keep seeing references
>to it, but no definition, or alternatively history.  Once I tried asking
>someone who should know and got an answer that he didn't want to discuss
>it.  What is it, the black plague or something?

In the beginning, there was no voting procedure to create a newsgroup.
You just had to convince the main Usenet sites to carry the group, and
it existed.  There were only a few "main Usenet sites".

Then the number of sites grew to huge numbers, arguments broke out,
disagreements were abound.  One particularly big argument broke out.
The "main Usenet sites"-system was disbanded.

Eventually people came up with the current voting system.

Some people thought that the voting system was foolish.  They created
their own system.  Their system was as follows:

1.  We will create the newsgroups we *damn* *well* *please*.
2.  If you don't want to carry them, *then* *don't*.  It won't hurt
out feelings, our egos; nor will it keep us up at night.
3.  We will make sure that all messages in *our* *damn* *newsgroups*
get a "Distribution: inet" header, so you don't have to carry them if
you don't want to.
4.  The name "inet" is used to refer to the fact that we want to create
newsgroups for talking about things that Internet sites want to talk
about that you *tiny* *little* *uucp* sites wouldn't care about and
would vote down.  For example, this NNTP protocol which is for us
high-end Internet people and will never make it to you *lowly* *small*
*sites*.

Don't flame me, I'm just explaining history.  I didn't create it.

Tom
P.S.  To the uninformed:  The internet and Usenet has grown so that
*tiny* *uucp* *sites* doesn't exist as a concept anymore.  Any 14-year
old with a 486 and a Telebit modem can look, taste, and feel like a Big
Internet Site.  "inet" is now useless.  "inet" is now useless.  Keep
repeating it until it sinks in.  However, the control-freaks in
news.groups would never permit a "with one vote change all the 'inet'
groups into 'real groups'" kind of deal.  Since most sites carry the
inet groups anyway, it shows how little the control-freaks of
news.groups really control.

P.P.S.  I used to be a news.groups control-freak.  ...I got better.
-- 
Tom Limoncelli -- tal@warren.mentorg.com (work) -- tal@plts.org (play)
"Some people run 'biff' to alert them that  | Disclaimer:  I do not
they have new email.  I run '/bin/true'".   | speak for Mentor Graphics.