From ncr-sd!hp-sdd!ucsdhub!ucsd!ames!mailrus!husc6!purdue!spaf Thu Jul 28 15:46:23 PDT 1988 Original-from: hoptoad!gnu (John Gilmore) and spaf@purdue.edu (Gene Spafford) [Most recent change: 26 July 1988 by spaf@cs.purdue.edu (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!postmaster for subscription details. 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.aquaria The aquarium & related as a hobby. alt.config Alternative subnet discussions and connectivity. alt.cyberpunk Alternative interactions among computers and people. alt.drugs Alternative discussions about drugs, man. alt.flame Alternative, literate, pithy, succinct screaming. alt.gourmand Recipes & cooking info. (Moderated) alt.hypertext Discussion of hypertext -- uses, transport, etc. alt.individualism ?? alt.recovery ?? 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.sources Alternative source code, unmoderated. alt.test Alternative subnetwork testing. Submissions to the moderated alt.gourmand group should be mailed to recipes@decwrl.dec.com (Brian Reid). 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 heirarchy for molecular biology called "bionet" originating from BIONET-20.ARPA and carried on a limited number of machines including rutgers, phri, mit-eddie, ukma, and all of the machines at UCSD. Contact Rob Liebschutz for more details. The current newsgroup list looks like this: bionet.general General BIONET announcements. bionet.jobs Scientific Job opportunities. 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-express How genes are regulated in cells. 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.oncogenes Genes that cause cancer. bionet.molbio.plant Molecular biology of plants. bionet.molbio.proteins Research on proteins and protein databases. bionet.molbio.seqnet Redistribution of European SEQNET bboard. bionet.molbio.yeast Molecular biology of yeast. bionet.politics Political issues relevant to science. 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. 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.control biz.newgroup biz.test 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 and spl1, among others. GNU --- "gnu.all" is a set of newsgroups that are gated bi-directionally with the Internet mailing lists concerned with the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation. GNU (GNU's Not Unix) will be a complete development of an 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.config GNU's Not Usenet administration and configuration gnu.test GNU's Not Usenet alternative sub-network testing gnu.emacs Editor/development environment and occasional sources gnu.emacs.bug GNU Emacs bug reports and suggested fixes gnu.emacs.vms Discussion of the VMS port of GNU Emacs gnu.emacs.lisp.manual Working group on the GNU Emacs LISP Programmer's Manual gnu.gdb.bug GNU DeBugger 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.g++ Discussion of the GNU C++ Compiler and GDB+ Debugger gnu.g++.bug G++ and GDB+ bug reports and suggested fixes gnu.chess Discussion of the GNU Chess program Usenet sites carrying the gnu.all newsgroups include bloom-beacon.mit.edu, bu-cs.bu.edu, decwrl.dec.com, im4u.cs.utexas.edu, mailrus.cc.umich.edu, mandrill.ces.cwru.edu, osu-cis, cs.purdue.edu, rutgers.edu, tut.cis.ohio-state.edu, uccba.uc.edu, and uunet.uu.net, as well as many more. Ask usenet@any of these sites for a feed. Questions about GNU can be directed to gnu@prep.ai.mit.edu or: Free Software Foundation, Inc. 675 Mass Ave Cambridge, MA 02139 USA +1 (617) 876-3296 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 (fair@ucbarpa.berkeley.edu). Pubnet ------ The "pubnet" distribution is for public-access systems and was originated by Bill Wisner. Current groups include: pubnet.sources pubnet.unix pubnet.config pubnet.wanted pubnet.talk pubnet.sysops 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, 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.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. -- Gene Spafford NSF/Purdue/U of Florida Software Engineering Research Center, Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-2004 Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu uucp: ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf