https://www.big-8.org/w/index.php?title=Special:NewPages&feed=atom&hidebots=1&hideredirs=1&limit=50&offset=&namespace=0&username=&tagfilter=&size-mode=max&size=0Usenet Big-8 Management Board - New pages [en]2024-03-29T10:42:50ZFrom Usenet Big-8 Management BoardMediaWiki 1.39.4https://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-03-22Minutes/2024-03-222024-03-22T21:36:17Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}}, {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}}, {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}, {{news|comp.os.plan9}} *** No further updates. ** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}} *** Ivo Gandolfo has agreed to take over as moderator and says he has the requisite technical resources in place. He will write to Russ Allbery to ask whether he would serve as a backup moderator. Agreed to wait for further news from him. ** {{news|comp.pro..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}}, {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}}, {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}, {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** No further updates.<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** Ivo Gandolfo has agreed to take over as moderator and says he has the requisite technical resources in place. He will write to Russ Allbery to ask whether he would serve as a backup moderator. Agreed to wait for further news from him.<br />
** {{news|comp.programming.literate}}<br />
*** In April 2023 the Board received an e-mail from Edward McGuire requesting that the moderation status of this group be changed to unmoderated. At the time, JS responded that this was inadvisable. Edward has now responded that he is prepared to take over moderatorship of the group with the blessing of the charter moderator, Norman Ramsey. Edward indicates that he has already set up the necessary moderation software. RL advised Edward to have Norman register the change of moderator with the ISC. TM to ask Edward to let us know once the change has been effected so that the Board can announce the change of moderator.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again.<br />
* Software<br />
** RL is continuing to produce a version of [http://www.lugoj.com/products.html PyModerator] that works with Python 3 and will send this to the maintainer when it is ready.<br />
** Edward McGuire has reported [https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?65488 a bug in STUMP]. The meeting examined the report and determined that this was very likely a case of outdated documentation. TM to reply to the report and to Edward's offer to help with STUMP maintenance.<br />
** TM has discovered that his institution is not currently offering any courses directly relevant to web/network programming, but will continue to inquire about students in other courses who might be interested in working on (Web)STUMP.<br />
* Misc<br />
** Agreed to cancel next week's meeting due to the public holiday. Next meeting on 5 April.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-03-15Minutes/2024-03-152024-03-18T21:25:16Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}} *** No further updates. ** {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}} *** No further updates ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** No further updates. ** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}} *** No further updates. ** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}} *** No further updates. * Infrastructure ** Mail server *** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again. * Software..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}}<br />
*** No further updates.<br />
** {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}}<br />
*** No further updates<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** No further updates.<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** No further updates.<br />
** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** No further updates.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again.<br />
* Software<br />
** RL received a positive response from the maintainer of [http://www.lugoj.com/products.html PyModerator], who has promised to publish the changes and also granted us permission to redistribute the software. RL to submit complete packages for Python 2 and Python 3, and perhaps also to clarify the exact licence for the software.<br />
** TM to inquire whether there are any local students who might help out with (Web)STUMP and/or a completely new moderation system.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-03-08Minutes/2024-03-082024-03-08T19:35:48Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}} *** RL to ping Greg Pfeil as necessary. ** {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}} *** Dan Mahoney, the mailing list administrator, replied to RL confirming that the news gateway broke a while ago, but he's not sure why. He says the list will be moving to new mailing list software and is not sure whether it will support the news gateway. He would like to find a solution that preserves the gateway and is investigating this. ** Re..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}}<br />
*** RL to ping Greg Pfeil as necessary.<br />
** {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}}<br />
*** Dan Mahoney, the mailing list administrator, replied to RL confirming that the news gateway broke a while ago, but he's not sure why. He says the list will be moving to new mailing list software and is not sure whether it will support the news gateway. He would like to find a solution that preserves the gateway and is investigating this.<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** RL's to ping the volunteer moderator as necessary.<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** No further responses to the MVI. TM to approach Ivo Gandolfo, who volunteered to assume moderatorship.<br />
** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** No further responses to the discussion on {{news|news.admin.moderation}} re demoderation. RL to ask the volunteer moderator whether, given the risk of some servers not honouring a change in moderator status, they're prepared to assume moderatorship.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again.<br />
* Software<br />
** RL has e-mailed his changes to [http://www.lugoj.com/products.html PyModerator] and is awaiting a response from the maintainers.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-03-01Minutes/2024-03-012024-03-05T17:23:54Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}} *** The Board received an e-mail report that this moderated group is not working. RL contacted the moderator, Greg Pfeil, who indicated that he intends to continue moderating the group. RL has been helping him on technical issues. ** {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}} *** The Board received an e-mail report that posts to this moderated group from its established mail-to-news gateway have not been showing up since 2020. It'..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|comp.sys.wearables}}<br />
*** The Board received an e-mail report that this moderated group is not working. RL contacted the moderator, Greg Pfeil, who indicated that he intends to continue moderating the group. RL has been helping him on technical issues.<br />
** {{news|comp.protocols.dns.bind}}<br />
*** The Board received an e-mail report that posts to this moderated group from its established mail-to-news gateway have not been showing up since 2020. It's not clear whether the problem is with the moderation system for the newsgroup (e.g., failing to approve and post the e-mails it receives) or with the mail-to-news gateway system (e.g., failing to forward the e-mails to the moderation system). RL has e-mailed the mailing list administrator and is awaiting a response.<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** RL's discussions with the volunteer moderator have resumed and are ongoing.<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** TM has posted an MVI for {{news|news.admin.technical}} and is monitoring the discussion.<br />
** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** RL has started a discussion on demoderating groups on {{news|news.groups.proposals}} and {{news|news.admin.moderation}} and is monitoring the discussion.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again.<br />
* Finances<br />
** TM reported that the Open Collective Foundation collective will be dissolving, and stressed that this does not affect the Board as our finances are hosted by the independent Open Collective Europe.<br />
* Software<br />
** RL has been investigating [http://www.lugoj.com/products.html PyModerator], a moderation software application that we list at [[Moderated Newsgroups#Moderation Software]]. The software has not been updated in 20 years, but RL was able to modify it to run with Python 2. RL considers that it would be good to have this software available as an alternative to STUMP, particularly since PyModerator will run in any environment that runs Python, including Microsoft Windows. RL will try submitting his changes upstream.<br />
* Misc<br />
** The Board received an e-mail from an enquirer with various comments and suggestions on reforming Usenet. The meeting discussed the e-mail and observed that much of it addresses aspects of Usenet not in the Board's purview.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-02-23Minutes/2024-02-232024-02-26T22:42:28Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** No further communication from volunteer moderator; RL to ping ** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}} *** Scott Hazen Mueller has confirmed that he did not seek or find any replacement moderators his groups. *** Marco has confirmed that he is interested in posting to {{news|news.admin.technical}}. *** The Board agreed to issue an MVI for {{news|news.admin.technical}}. TM to handle this. **..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** No further communication from volunteer moderator; RL to ping<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** Scott Hazen Mueller has confirmed that he did not seek or find any replacement moderators his groups.<br />
*** Marco has confirmed that he is interested in posting to {{news|news.admin.technical}}.<br />
*** The Board agreed to issue an MVI for {{news|news.admin.technical}}. TM to handle this.<br />
** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** RL still to post his discussion on demoderating groups to {{news|news.groups.proposals}} and {{news|news.admin.moderation}}. (On reflection, {{news|news.software.nntp}} may not be an appropriate venue.)<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again.<br />
*** RL has updated the spam filter on the mail server to whitelist {{news|news.groups.proposals}} submissions. (TM thought he had done this already, but had actually made the change on Panix, which does not handle the Board's usual mail accounts.)<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-02-15Minutes/2024-02-152024-02-15T17:41:13Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** TM posted the announcement of the new moderator. ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** TM has posted a follow-up to the LCC indicating that the matter is on hold pending further discussion with the volunteer. *** RL has been continuing to discuss the moderation setup with the volunteer. ** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}} *** Scott Hazen Mueller has respond..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** TM posted the announcement of the new moderator.<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM has posted a follow-up to the LCC indicating that the matter is on hold pending further discussion with the volunteer.<br />
*** RL has been continuing to discuss the moderation setup with the volunteer.<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** Scott Hazen Mueller has responded, indicating that he informed Todd McComb of the ISC in July 2018 that he was shutting down his moderation infrastructure. The ISC changed the group forwarding to a "no moderator info" responder. The affected Big-8 groups include:<br />
**** {{news|comp.newprod}}<br />
**** {{news|comp.sys.sun.announce}}<br />
**** {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
**** {{news|rec.arts.sf.announce}}<br />
**** {{news|misc.test.moderated}} (possibly)<br />
*** TM to check with Scott Hazen Mueller whether he attempted to find any replacement moderators.<br />
*** TM to respond to Marco's query about {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** RL investigated historical documents and discussions concerning changing the moderation status of a group. He found that past MVIs had actually given the option of changing moderation status from moderated to unmoderated, but that the Board had removed this language at some point. He also found that [https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5537.html RFC 5537] from 2009 apparently provides for changing the moderation status of a group. RL to include a summary of these findings in the discussion thread he will be starting in {{news|news.groups.proposals}}, {{news|news.admin.moderation}}, and {{news|news.software.nntp}}.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** RL has changed the target for Tristan's big-8.org forwarder to his new address.<br />
*** RL still to work on getting the webmail and admin front-ends working again.<br />
*** Some {{news|news.groups.proposals}} submissions are still going into our junk mail folder; RL to investigate.<br />
* Misc<br />
** TM has responded to Salahuddin's correspondence concerning his moderation tool.<br />
** Next week's meeting is rescheduled to Friday, 23 February at 11:30 CST / 17:30 GMT due to a conflicting appointment for TM.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-02-09Minutes/2024-02-092024-02-09T21:52:28Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** TM still to post the announcement of the new moderator. ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** After the call for votes was issued, the Board received an e-mail from someone volunteering to take over as moderator for the group. JS discussed this with Paul Schleck, and as a result of this discussion TM wrote to the volunteer for further information on their background and pla..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** TM still to post the announcement of the new moderator.<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** After the call for votes was issued, the Board received an e-mail from someone volunteering to take over as moderator for the group. JS discussed this with Paul Schleck, and as a result of this discussion TM wrote to the volunteer for further information on their background and plans.<br />
*** RL to continue this discussion with the volunteer, in particular to ask whether they would be willing and able to assume technical and/or financial responsibility for the group's existing moderation software setup, and to get further details on their plans to revitalize the group.<br />
*** TM to post a follow-up to the LCC indicating that the matter is on hold pending further discussion with the volunteer.<br />
** Moderation status of {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** TM still to contact the last known moderator to confirm the current situation with the group.<br />
** {{news|rec.games.mecha}}<br />
*** No further correspondence received from the inquirer.<br />
** Proposal to revitalize {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** No further correspondence received from the inquirer, who had suggested converting the group to an unmoderated one.<br />
*** The meeting reviewed the pros and cons of changing the moderation status of a group and considered whether they still applied to today's smaller Usenet. It was observed that there was at least one past instance of a group being successfully converted from unmoderated to moderated (namely, {{news|comp.ai}}.<br />
*** RL to open a discussion on {{news|news.admin.moderation}} and {{news|news.groups.proposals}} to ask whether anyone was aware of a group being converted from moderated to unmoderated in the past, and what the current feeling is (particularly among news server administrators) on whether such an action would be successful nowadays.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** The webmail and admin front-ends are still down and sending daily nag e-mails about the upgrade and backup status; RL to continue to work on this when time permits.<br />
*** In the meantime, RL to (manually) change the target for Tristan's big-8.org forwarder to his new address.<br />
* Misc<br />
** TM still to respond to Salahuddin's correspondence concerning his moderation tool.<br />
** Last week's meeting was cancelled as RL was travelling.<br />
** Next week's meeting is rescheduled to Thursday, 15 February at 11:00 CST / 17:00 GMT due to a conflicting appointment for TM.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-01-19Minutes/2024-01-192024-01-26T21:24:03Z<p>Tristan Miller: fix typo</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** The Board had offered to announce the new moderator; Bixby has confirmed that this can now go ahead, since the moderation system is working. TM to post this announcement in the same venues as the MVI.<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM posted the LCC on 2024-10-15. Voting period will be from 2024-01-20 to 2024-01-27.<br />
** {{news|news.admin.technical}}<br />
*** Marco Moock wrote to report that the moderation system for this group is not working, and that the old moderator told him that moderation had been transferred to the Board. TM investigated and found no record of such a transfer. TM to contact the last known moderator to confirm the current situation with the group.<br />
** {{news|rec.games.mecha}}<br />
*** The Board received an e-mail indicating that posts to this moderated group are not showing up. TM responded, advising the enquirer to contact the moderator directly, and if that doesn't work (or if the moderator responds to indicate that he is no longer willing or able to moderate the group), to get back to us.<br />
* Misc<br />
** Salahuddin has written further concerning his new moderation tool. TM to respond.<br />
** TM will continue to handle any e-mail correspondence.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2024-01-12Minutes/2024-01-122024-01-15T19:35:45Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** E-mail from Bixby; to be handled by TM ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** No responses to the 2nd RFD. TM to post the LCC. * Misc ** Salahuddin has written concerning a new moderation tool; TM to respond ** RL may have Internet access issues for the next few days or weeks, so TM to handle any e-mail correspondence for now. Category:Meeting minutes for 2024"</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** E-mail from Bixby; to be handled by TM<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** No responses to the 2nd RFD. TM to post the LCC.<br />
* Misc<br />
** Salahuddin has written concerning a new moderation tool; TM to respond<br />
** RL may have Internet access issues for the next few days or weeks, so TM to handle any e-mail correspondence for now.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2024]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-12-29Minutes/2023-12-292023-12-29T15:25:10Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|comp.os.plan9}} *** No response yet from proponent. Agreed to defer. ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** Moderator reports he will be signing up with Panix ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** No comments yet on 2nd RFD. Agreed to defer. * Misc ** Agreed to change the regular meeting time to Fridays at 15:00 GMT/BST due to a conflicting appointment for TM Category:Meeting minutes for 2023"</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** No response yet from proponent. Agreed to defer.<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** Moderator reports he will be signing up with Panix<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** No comments yet on 2nd RFD. Agreed to defer.<br />
* Misc<br />
** Agreed to change the regular meeting time to Fridays at 15:00 GMT/BST due to a conflicting appointment for TM<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-12-22Minutes/2023-12-222023-12-22T15:39:31Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|comp.os.plan9}} *** The Board received an MVI enquiry for {{news|comp.os.plan9}}. RL has been following up. ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** Moderator reports continued difficulties submitting approved posts to news servers; RL to e-mail him with further advice ** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}} *** RL still importing the FAQs..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|comp.os.plan9}}<br />
*** The Board received an MVI enquiry for {{news|comp.os.plan9}}. RL has been following up.<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** Moderator reports continued difficulties submitting approved posts to news servers; RL to e-mail him with further advice<br />
** Removal of {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL still importing the FAQs into the wiki<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM to post 2nd RFD<br />
* Misc<br />
** Agreed TM would monitor the Board's e-mail for the next week<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Finding_newsgroups_and_subscribing_to_themFinding newsgroups and subscribing to them2023-12-15T00:03:54Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Import of old NNQ web site "Finding newsgroups and subscribing to them" article</p>
<hr />
<div>While some newsreaders may come pre-subscribed to groups like {{news|news.newusers.questions}}, there are many other newsgroups out there! Here is how to get to them.<br />
<br />
== Ways to find newsgroups ==<br />
=== Your own news server’s group list ===<br />
Your newsreader software should have a way of listing all the newsgroups your news server carries. For example, in [https://www.thunderbird.net/ Thunderbird], you can right-click on the news server name in the left sidebar and select "Subscribe..."<br />
<br />
As you download the list for the first time, ''be patient''. You may need to wait several minutes before the download completes. If you interrupt the download, you may end up with a corrupted list. Should this occur, shut down your newsreader and delete the file that contains the group list. If you are unsure which file that is, ask for help!<br />
<br />
When you have downloaded the list, your newsreader will show it to you either as one long list of groups or grouped by hierarchy, such as alt, comp, and the like. In the latter case, clicking on a hierarchy will usually show you the groups and/or sub-hierarchies within.<br />
<br />
=== Other group listings ===<br />
Many news servers only carry a subset of the newsgroups for a hierarchy, so you may find a comprehensive list useful. However, please note that such lists may be very long and that it can be difficult to use them to find newsgroups on specific topics. For that purpose, you will probably find it much easier to use a [[#Searching Google Groups|newsgroup search engine]].<br />
<br />
For the official list of newsgroups in the 'Big Eight' hierarchies (comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc and talk), please see the article labelled "Subject: List of Big Eight Newsgroups" in the {{news|news.announce.newgroups}} newsgroup. You can also find the list on the [https://ftp.isc.org/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/Group_Lists/ ISC's FTP site].<br />
<br />
The same site also carries a [https://ftp.isc.org/usenet/CONFIG/newsgroups list of newsgroups in many hierarchies] (including the 'Big Eight' and alt as well as many national, local and regional hierarchies). This list is large, but appending .gz will get you a [https://ftp.isc.org/usenet/CONFIG/newsgroups.gz compressed version] in GNU gzip format. These lists should be authoritative for the 'Big Eight', but they are not authoritative for any other hierarchy.<br />
<br />
You can also find lists showing the top 100 newsgroups in terms of number of postings, as well as readership on one server, at [https://www.eternal-september.org/postingstats.php Eternal September].<br />
<br />
=== Asking in news.groups.questions ===<br />
You could also post a question to the {{news|news.groups.questions}} newsgroup. They have people who look for both newsgroups and mailing lists about any topic in which you are interested.<br />
<br />
=== Searching Google Groups ===<br />
Another thing to do would be a [https://groups.google.com Google Groups] search for a newsgroup on your topic. Enter a word or two that describe your topic of choice into the search box. The search should return a list of newsgroups that are most likely to discuss the topic you are interested in as well as some sample articles containing your search terms.<br />
<br />
== When you have found an interesting group ==<br />
=== Subscribing ===<br />
In order to read articles posted to a newsgroup, you would normally subscribe to that group. This is often done by ticking a box next to the newsgroup name in the newsgroup list or by clicking first on the newsgroup name and then on a Subscribe button. Extended instructions for a number of newsreaders are available.<br />
<br />
You may also be able to subscribe using your web browser, either by typing in a news URI such as news:news.newusers.questions or by clicking on a hyperlink that points to a newsgroup.<br />
<br />
The groups to which you subscribe should automatically reappear the next time you start your newsreader.<br />
<br />
=== Controlling the download volume ===<br />
Your news server might have a huge amount of messages for a group you select. If this is the case, you may need to do two things in order to avoid overloading your newsreader:<br />
<br />
Make sure your newsreader is set up to fetch only headers, not entire messages. Your newsreader will download the article bodies for you, one by one, as you select them for reading. An exception to this rule would be off-line usage, when you must download entire articles in advance so that you can read them while disconnected.<br />
Limit the amount of article headers (or entire articles) your newsreader will store at a time. An amount of 500 or 1000 might be a prudent choice unless you have a slow connection or computer.<br />
<br />
=== 'Lurk' before you post ===<br />
It is always a good idea to read at least a week’s worth of postings as well as any FAQs before posting to a group for the first time. That will familiarize you with the group and help you learn its culture. It is much better to start by finding out what kind of posts are appropriate in the group than to be flamed for posting in the wrong place.<br />
<br />
For a quick and easy way to get a week’s worth of postings and any FAQs that are crossposted to news.answers, go to NewsReaders.com and enter a group name in the search box at the bottom of the page. As not all FAQs posted to the group may be crossposted to news.answers, also look for article subjects containing e.g. FAQ or Tip.</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-12-08Minutes/2023-12-082023-12-08T15:09:08Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}} *** RL has continued importing the FAQs into the wiki ** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** TM has posted a revised draft of the RFD, and it has been attracting some discussion. * Misc ** Agreed to cancel next week's meeting since TM has a conflicting appointment. Category:Meeting minutes for 2023"</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL has continued importing the FAQs into the wiki<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM has posted a revised draft of the RFD, and it has been attracting some discussion.<br />
* Misc<br />
** Agreed to cancel next week's meeting since TM has a conflicting appointment.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/How_to_post_messages_to_news.newusers.questionsHow to post messages to news.newusers.questions2023-12-03T21:53:32Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Import of old NNQ web site "how to post" article (with some updating)</p>
<hr />
<div>If you want to post an article to the {{news|news.newusers.questions}} newsgroup (nnq), or if you have tried to post an article to nnq and it was returned to you by email, or it has not appeared on your news server after a day or two, then you should read this article to find out what to do.<br />
<br />
News articles posted to moderated newsgroups first travel as email messages to a moderation address. Most news server software will send messages posted to a moderated newsgroup to the appropriate moderation address automatically, but if you need it, [mailto:nnq@nan.users.panix.com nnq@nan.users.panix.com] is the moderation address for nnq.<br />
<br />
Messages arriving at the nnq moderation address are scanned by a human moderator and/or by a software package (or "robot moderator"). This is to allow messages appropriate for nnq to be posted, and to try to return other messages to their senders.<br />
<br />
If your message is returned to you by a moderator, there are several possibilities:<br />
<br />
* the content of the message is not appropriate for nnq<br />
* the content is appropriate, but the form is not appropriate<br />
* both the content and form of the message are appropriate for nnq, but the robot returns your message anyway<br />
<br />
<br />
== Content issues ==<br />
If the overall content of your message is not appropriate for nnq, then do not try to post it to nnq again. Instead consider sending it to a [[Finding newsgroups and subscribing to them|more appropriate newsgroup]], or by direct email to an individual correspondent.<br />
<br />
== Format issues ==<br />
If the overall content of your message is appropriate for nnq, and you want to edit the message and re-send it to the moderators, be sure to delete anything "extra", such as:<br />
<br />
* any quoted text that is not part of a question or answer or that is not needed to make the question or answer understandable<br />
* any text sent by the robot<br />
* any copies of the nnq "footer".<br />
<br />
Resend the message to the nnq submission address, which is [mailto:nnq@nan.users.panix.com nnq@nan.users.panix.com].<br />
<br />
== Appealing rejections ==<br />
If a moderator continues to return your message to you, and you think the message is appropriate for nnq and should have been approved, you can send your message to the appeal address ([mailto:nnq-request@nan.users.panix.com nnq-request@nan.users.panix.com]) for a human moderator to review.<br />
<br />
Allow a day or two to get a result.<br />
<br />
== Possible problems with news.newusers.questions ==<br />
If your message has not appeared on your news server within a day or two after you sent it, and it has not been returned to you by a moderator, then there may be some other sort of problem:<br />
<br />
* The message was posted by a moderator, but has not yet arrived at your news server.<br />
** Look at the Date: headers on the most recently arrived messages in nnq at your news server.<br />
** Look at the Date: headers on the most recently arrived messages in nnq at [https://groups.google.com/g/news.newusers.questions Google Groups].<br />
** Look for your message, while you’re there.<br />
* A moderator tried to return your message by email, but could not reach the address you provided.<br />
** Send a test email message to yourself from your news reading program (or from your web browser, if you use that to read news).<br />
** When you get the test message, reply to it, using a built-in reply command.<br />
** If your reply does not come back to your address, you may have configured your address incorrectly in whatever software you used to send the original test, or your Internet service provider may be having a problem.<br />
* There may be some problem affecting Internet traffic between your computer and the nnq moderation platform.<br />
** Look for announcements of problems recently posted to nnq.<br />
** Look for your message, while you’re there.<br />
* The nnq moderation platform may not be working.<br />
** Look for announcements of problems recently posted to nnq.<br />
** Look for your message, while you’re there.<br />
<br />
== What is inappropriate for nnq? ==<br />
Below is a selection of items not appropriate for nnq. ("Relevant" in this context means "that contributes to educating or informing new users".)<br />
<br />
* [[#Test articles|Test articles]]<br />
* [[#Articles with no subject|Articles with no subject]]<br />
* [[#Duplicate or rapidly reposted messages|Duplicate or rapidly reposted messages]]<br />
* [[#Articles containing significantly more quoted than new content|Articles containing significantly more quoted than new content]]<br />
* [[#Chain letters, including "Make Money Fast" articles|Chain letters, including "Make Money Fast" articles]]<br />
* [[#Known hoaxes (like the "Good Times Virus")|Known hoaxes (like the "Good Times Virus")]]<br />
* [[#Irrelevant questions or conversation|Irrelevant questions or conversation]]<br />
* [[#Personal introductions or requests for email|Personal introductions or requests for email]]<br />
* [[#Excessively long articles (more than approximately 200 lines)|Excessively long articles (more than approximately 200 lines)]]<br />
* [[#Articles that do not primarily consist of readable text|Articles that do not primarily consist of readable text]] (e.g. pictures, videos, or other non-text files)<br />
* [[#Articles crossposted to several newsgroups|Articles crossposted to several newsgroups]] (except proper FAQ documents)<br />
* [[#Articles posted as separate copies to many newsgroups|Articles posted as separate copies to many newsgroups]]<br />
* [[#Announcements and commercial messages|Announcements of non-relevant Web pages]]<br />
* [[#Announcements and commercial messages|Announcements of non-relevant services]]<br />
* [[#Announcements and commercial messages|Articles offering items for sale]]<br />
* [[#Announcements and commercial messages|Commercial advertisements]]<br />
<br />
=== Test articles ===<br />
You should post test messages only to a newsgroup specifically dedicated to testing, such as to {{news|misc.test}} or to a local test group.<br />
<br />
Test newsgroups may be watched by robots that send you an automatic response, showing that your message reached those distant computers.<br />
<br />
=== Articles with no subject ===<br />
Supply short, clear, descriptive Subject: lines for your articles. Avoid subject lines like "Help" or "Question" or "How do I do this?".<br />
<br />
The more specific the better. "Help with Worldnet and US Robotics Modem" is a good example of a clear subject line.<br />
<br />
=== Duplicate or rapidly reposted messages ===<br />
You may have sent the article more than once. Only click the Send button once.<br />
<br />
Please do not post your question many times under different subject lines. Due to the nature of moderation, your message has to travel to the moderation site by email, and then back to your site by news transport — allow from a few hours to a day for this trip.<br />
<br />
If the duplicate articles were returned to you, the first article sent may have already been posted. Look for it in {{news|news.newusers.questions}} before sending that article again.<br />
<br />
=== Articles containing significantly more quoted than new content ===<br />
Delete some or all of the previously posted material.<br />
<br />
People reading a "thread" of articles will see the previous message before they see your reply, so you do not need to quote the entire previous message. Delete the sections you aren't directly responding to.<br />
<br />
=== Chain letters, including "Make Money Fast" articles ===<br />
Chain letters ask you to send money to a list of addresses, and they imply that other people will send money to you.<br />
<br />
Do not post chain letters on the Internet — they are illegal in many places and fraudulent everywhere.<br />
<br />
=== Known hoaxes (like the "Good Times Virus") ===<br />
Email messages that encourage you to "pass this along" or "tell all your friends" are almost always a hoax or rumor.<br />
<br />
Research the message before sending any unconfirmed warning to anyone.<br />
<br />
=== Irrelevant questions or conversation ===<br />
You should explore other newsgroups and mailing lists to discuss any topics which are not appropriate for nnq, or use direct email to carry on personal conversations.<br />
<br />
Keep in mind that every message posted to worldwide net newsgroups is stored on tens of thousands of machines, and may be archived for decades at some sites.<br />
<br />
=== Personal introductions or requests for email ===<br />
* For general or miscellaneous socializing, explore the newsgroup {{news|soc.misc}}.<br />
* For penpals, explore the newsgroup {{news|soc.penpals}}, but read the group for a week or two before posting a penpal request.<br />
* If you are looking for a relationship that involves more than exchanging email with a penpal, explore the following groups:<br />
** {{news|soc.personals}}<br />
** {{news|soc.singles.moderated}}<br />
** the alt.personals.* hierarchy<br />
** a local "personals" newsgroup, if one exists.<br />
<br />
=== Excessively long articles (more than approximately 200 lines) ===<br />
Make the content available on a website or an FTP server instead.<br />
<br />
If the content covers the same topics as a newsgroup or mailing list, you may want to post its URI, e.g. http://www.example.com/Alice/Large_File.txt, together with a brief description of the site, to an appropriate newsgroup or mailing list. Post the URI to nnq only if the content is appropriate for nnq.<br />
<br />
=== Articles that do not primarily consist of readable text ===<br />
Anything posted to an English-language newsgroup should be plainly readable by anyone who reads news using an English-language setup, regardless of what software or hardware they otherwise use.<br />
<br />
Do not attach or include HTML, word-processing, picture or sound files in messages; many people cannot read them. Handle such files like long articles — do not post the file to nnq, but either to a website, an FTP server or a relevant binary (e.g. alt.binaries.*) newsgroup.<br />
<br />
To reach the widest possible audience, use plain text formatted to 72 columns or less. This is in order to accommodate a few quotation indicators (e.g. > > ) before reaching the 80-column width that is the maximum for many newsreaders.<br />
<br />
In nnq and most other Big Eight (comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc, talk) newsgroups, use ASCII text. In newsgroups where a different character set is needed (e.g. de, fr, ru), use Latin-1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1), or whatever is necessary to be compatible with the character sets people in those hierarchies use.<br />
<br />
=== Articles crossposted to several newsgroups ===<br />
Only FAQ documents (articles with answers to frequently asked questions) should be crossposted to nnq.<br />
<br />
Set your newsreader to display the Newsgroups: and Followup-To: headers.<br />
<br />
If an article is cross-posted to many newsgroups, and you are angered by the article, consider that it may have been cross-posted deliberately in the hope of provoking angry responses. Don't fall into the trap of replying furiously to such a "troll" — learn to spot them and ignore them instead of giving them the satisfaction of seeing angry replies.<br />
<br />
Try to post to only one newsgroup. If you must post to several groups, crosspost to the smallest possible set of appropriate newsgroups, and use a Followup-To: header to direct any responses either to yourself by email, or to exactly one of the newsgroups you are crossposting to.<br />
<br />
If you want to suggest that replies to your posted article should be emailed to you, add this to your message headers: Followup-To: poster<br />
If you want to suggest that responses be posted to a newsgroup, supply that newsgroup name, such as: Followup-To: news.newusers.questions<br />
<br />
=== Articles posted as separate copies to many newsgroups ===<br />
Posting the same article to many groups separately is sometimes called EMP (excessive multi-posting).<br />
<br />
Either pick one appropriate newsgroup to post to, or learn how to crosspost to appropriate newsgroups that accept crossposted articles.<br />
<br />
=== Announcements and commercial messages ===<br />
Many newsgroups have a strong non-commercial tradition. Advertisements of any kind are expected to be found only in the few newsgroups or other places where they are appropriate. This includes announcements of non-relevant Web pages, announcements of non-relevant services, articles offering items for sale, and commercial advertisements.<br />
<br />
* For services or items only available locally, explore your local hierarchy. Look for a newsgroup called local.forsale or a similar name, and post there.<br />
* Other newsgroups and hierarchies to explore include {{news|misc.jobs.misc}} and {{news|biz.general}}.<br />
<br />
<br />
Offering products or services on a web page that you announce to the world is more effective than posting advertisements to newsgroups.<br />
<br />
== Additional information ==<br />
Please refer to the [[Charter for news.newusers.questions|charter]] and to the [[Administrative statement for news.newusers.questions|administrative statement]].<br />
<br />
[[Category:news.newusers.questions|news.newusers.questions]]</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-12-01Minutes/2023-12-012023-12-01T16:29:45Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}} *** RL has started importing the FAQs into the wiki ** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** TM send a draft RFD to PS and RL. He will revise it in accordance with their comments and post it. Category:Meeting minutes for 2023"</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL has started importing the FAQs into the wiki<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM send a draft RFD to PS and RL. He will revise it in accordance with their comments and post it.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Administrative_statement_for_news.newusers.questionsAdministrative statement for news.newusers.questions2023-12-01T15:50:13Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Import of old NNQ admin statement (with relevant updates)</p>
<hr />
<div>== Introduction ==<br />
The newsgroup news.newusers.questions is a moderated group. Moderation is a brief review process intended to ensure that the group contains only on-topic messages having no harmful technical issues.<br />
<br />
When you send a message to the group, your message will not appear in the group immediately. However, unless there is something wrong with the message, a moderator will soon approve it, placing it in the group for everyone to read. Currently, moderation is performed primarily by human moderators (rather than automatically, by software).<br />
<br />
Please expect a delay of several hours between the time you send your message and the time your message appears on your news server.<br />
<br />
The [[charter for news.newusers.questions]] defines what is on topic for this group. It also specifies the powers of the Moderation Board.<br />
<br />
== Rejections and appeals ==<br />
When a moderator rejects a message, he or she tries to email a rejection notice to the sender. This notice would include the reason for the rejection. You can appeal such a rejection by sending an emailed reply to the rejection notice or by writing to [mailto:nnq-request@nan.users.panix.com nnq-request@nan.users.panix.com].<br />
<br />
If you think a moderator may have rejected your message, but you have not received a rejection notice, please make sure you have configured your newsreader with your correct email address.<br />
<br />
== Moderator contacts ==<br />
Please send any mail related to the moderation of the group to [mailto:nnq-request@nan.users.panix.com nnq-request@nan.users.panix.com].<br />
<br />
== Moderation Board ==<br />
The moderation of this group is currently handled by the [[board members|Big-8 Management Board]] (as of December 2023).<br />
<br />
== Past moderators ==<br />
<br />
=== Head Moderator, Emeritus ===<br />
* Jon Bell (jbell at presby.edu), from June 1997 to September 2007<br />
<br />
=== Moderators Emeriti ===<br />
* Dennis Calhoun (dcalhoun at BLomand.Net), from June 1997 to September 2007<br />
* Denis McKeon (dmckeon at swcp.com), from June 1997 to September 2007<br />
* Barbara Pattist (pattist at earthlink.net), from June 1997 to September 2007<br />
* Kivi Shapiro (kivi at pobox.com), from June 1997 to September 2007<br />
* Dave Howard, from June 1997 to May 2000<br />
* Don Sillaway, from June 1997 to November 1999<br />
* Ethan Bradford, from June 1997 to March 1998<br />
* Stella Nemeth, from June 1997 to December 1997<br />
* Kate Weizel, from June 1997 to September 1997<br />
* Kathy Cole (kathy at scconsult.com), from October 1997 to September 2007<br />
* Julius Kusuma, from March 1998 to May 2001<br />
* Michael Buchenrieder, from May 2000 to September 2007<br />
* Heinrich Schramm (heinrich at schramm.com), from May 2000 to September 2007<br />
* Thor Kottelin, from June 1997 to some time in 2016<br />
* Kathy Morgan, from October 1997 to May 2000, and from November 2009 to December 2023<br />
<br />
[[Category:news.newusers.questions]]</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/News.newusers.questionsNews.newusers.questions2023-12-01T03:11:03Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Import of old NNQ web site index (most links to be added)</p>
<hr />
<div>{{lowercase}}<br />
<br />
This article is based on material authored by members of the news.newusers.questions Moderation Board and nnq-workers mailing list, particularly by Dennis D. Calhoun (until 2007) and Thor Kottelin (after 2007). – Eine deutsche Version [http://www.newsgruppen.de/dnnqlinks.html ist vorhanden].<br />
<br />
== Introduction ==<br />
<br />
The newsgroup {{news|news.newusers.questions}} is for questions and answers about Usenet and the Internet. Newcomers to newsgroups and the Internet in general can ask questions and will, we hope, receive useful replies.<br />
<br />
The group is moderated. This means that a human moderator or a moderation program reviews every article before placing it in the group. For you, if you post a question or answer to news.newusers.questions, this means that there will be a delay before you will see your post. Your news server will email the article to our moderation site, where we will post it to the newsgroup. Then, your article must propagate back to your news server by way of Usenet news feeds. The entire process may take from minutes to hours.<br />
<br />
This site contains answers to frequently asked questions as well as links to helpful sites and newsgroups. It is also a mirror of the home of the official news.newusers.questions policy and administrative documents.<br />
<br />
== Administrative information about news.newusers.questions ==<br />
* Administrative statement<br />
* [[Charter for news.newusers.questions|The group’s charter]], passed by a Usenet-wide vote<br />
* How to post — extended guidelines for what is acceptable in this newsgroup<br />
<br />
== Do this first: test properly! ==<br />
* Where to post your very first message — it probably is not where you would think it would be!<br />
* Where to post test messages — hint: look for group names that say 'test'<br />
<br />
== Posting (and cancelling) ==<br />
* Writing style on Usenet — how to make your posts really easy to read<br />
* Quoting text in replies<br />
* Avoiding HTML when posting news<br />
* Pictures, sounds and document files — they may be posted in special newsgroups only<br />
* Cancelling an article that you have posted (of course it is best not to post it in the first place)<br />
<br />
== Finding other groups ==<br />
* Finding information on the Internet — how to begin searching<br />
* Finding newsgroups and subscribing to them — there are many other newsgroups out there<br />
* How to go to soc.penpals or any other newsgroup — specific instructions for various newsreaders<br />
* Public news servers — where to look if your site does not carry a newsgroup you want<br />
<br />
== Online promotion ==<br />
* 'Make money fast' schemes — you could lose your account in a heartbeat, so watch out for these swindles<br />
* Advertising and selling only take place in special groups<br />
* Announcing your web page — try your signature file instead of using 200 newsgroups... trust us<br />
<br />
== Making new friends online ==<br />
* Chat areas and pen pals — different ways to 'talk' with people on the net<br />
* Personals and requests for girl- or boyfriends<br />
* Learning about other cultures<br />
* Travelling to other places<br />
<br />
== How newsgroups work ==<br />
* What newsgroups are, and how they work (it is complicated but fascinating)<br />
* Why newsgroups are not email — there are some big and small differences between the two<br />
* Disappearing articles — here is why they eventually will vanish<br />
<br />
== Creating new newsgroups ==<br />
* Internet forums — creating a newsgroup is not easy; other options may suit you better<br />
* Creating new newsgroups<br />
<br />
== Help with computer problems ==<br />
* How to help us help you — information you need to provide when looking for computer help<br />
* Finding an offline newsreader — in case staying online for hours is expensive<br />
* Help in your own language — if you are not that great at English, try these newsgroups<br />
<br />
[[Category:news.newusers.questions]]</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-11-24Minutes/2023-11-242023-11-24T16:31:26Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}} *** RL has finished setting up the moderation system for these groups and will post to them an announcement that we are the new moderators. *** Revision and wikification of the FAQs still TBD ** {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** The moderator reports further progress on the moderation system. ** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}} *** TM has reviewed the past correspondence with..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL has finished setting up the moderation system for these groups and will post to them an announcement that we are the new moderators.<br />
*** Revision and wikification of the FAQs still TBD<br />
** {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** The moderator reports further progress on the moderation system.<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM has reviewed the past correspondence with PS on this and has concluded that it would not make sense to issue an MVI before a group removal RFD. TM has prepared such an RFD and will send it to RL and PS for review.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Procmail<br />
*** RL has identified the cause of the filtering issue previously reported for {{news|comp.ai}} and will apply a fix.<br />
*** RL noted that the procmailrc file was previously under revision control with RCS, and so restored this. The meeting agreed that this file, and the other scripts we use, should be migrated to Git.<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** TM had reported that the mail server was sending daily error reports by e-mail about not being able to stop a certain service (since the required version is not running on the server in the first place). RL updated the configuration so that it looks instead for the version that is installed; however, this now results in different error reports. RL to investigate further.<br />
* (Web)STUMP<br />
** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah<br />
* Publicity<br />
* Misc<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-11-17Minutes/2023-11-172023-11-17T18:17:49Z<p>Tristan Miller: </p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL still in the process of setting up STUMP for {{news|news.announce.newusers}}, as some procmail recipes need debugging. (The existing rules mistakenly allowed two test messages to be posted to the group despite being rejected by STUMP.)<br />
*** RL has posted the charters and signing keys for these groups on the wiki<br />
*** Revising the FAQs still TBD<br />
** {{news|comp.os.linux.announce}}<br />
*** TM and Salahuddin were unable to reproduce the problem when posting from Google Groups. PS wrote to indicate that the issue may be linked to a recent flooding attack, as a result of which Google Groups made several groups read-only or gated behind a (possibly buggy) CAPTCHA.<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM still to prepare a final MVI for posting this month.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Procmail<br />
*** RL discovered some posts for {{news|comp.ai}}, all from the same poster, had been mistakenly put in the Board's Panix inbox rather than being forwarded to the moderator. The meeting examined the .procmailrc file and log but couldn't determine the cause of this. It was agreed that RL would remove the obsolete spam-reporting rules from the .procmailrc file. RL will continue to study and revise the file to get the {{news|news.announce.newusers}} rules working. TM to thereafter check the {{news|comp.ai}} rules.<br />
* (Web)STUMP<br />
** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah<br />
* Publicity<br />
* Misc<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Signing_key_for_news.announce.newusersSigning key for news.announce.newusers2023-11-17T00:18:20Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Created page with signing key for news.announce.newusers</p>
<hr />
<div><pre><br />
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br />
<br />
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4grX1pWCGNoWyZcfaudbQBUTFhGXMYR8STi7oW2PhvJcQXArENnGVhmW+PJOzrch<br />
+Rw+7F2hKmtX+8emQ7+ZugrkiAxwbIf4ka1xABEBAAG0T25ld3MuYW5ub3VuY2Uu<br />
bmV3dXNlcnMgQXBwcm92YWwgS2V5IDxuZXd1c2Vycy1hcHByb3ZhbC1rZXlAbmFu<br />
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-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br />
</pre><br />
[[Category:news.announce.newusers]]<br />
[[Category:Signing keys]]</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Signing_key_for_news.newusers.questionsSigning key for news.newusers.questions2023-11-16T18:41:17Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Updated key</p>
<hr />
<div><pre><br />
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br />
<br />
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HHGnM7BuxcJuTcGlaE1L+ohwJx0HYvHQ4uqRVJDpDHizWGAdQHaBR7v8b+4HPDPG<br />
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b7NiM9tHbkYGt0urhVXepidXK0ryFl8nleM=<br />
=c8Wj<br />
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----<br />
<br />
</pre><br />
[[Category:news.newusers.questions]]<br />
[[Category:Signing keys]]</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Charter_for_news.newusers.questionsCharter for news.newusers.questions2023-11-16T00:46:10Z<p>Rayner Lucas: Formatting</p>
<hr />
<div>NEWS.NEWUSERS.QUESTIONS (n.n.q) is for questions, answers and advice about using Usenet news and other Internet newsgroups and services. Articles which do not contribute to educating or informing new users about Usenet are inappropriate for this newsgroup.<br />
<br />
Some examples of inappropriate posts include:<br />
<br />
* Chain letters, including "Make Money Fast" articles<br />
* Known hoaxes (like the "Good Times Virus")<br />
* Announcements of non-relevant Web pages<br />
* Announcements of non-relevant services<br />
* Personal introductions or requests for e-mail<br />
* Irrelevant questions or conversation<br />
* Articles offering items for sale<br />
* Commercial advertisements<br />
* Test articles<br />
<br />
<br />
These posts may be rejected regardless of their topic:<br />
<br />
* Articles which aren't primarily text in a standard alphabet (e.g. binaries, pictures, Rot13).<br />
* Articles cross-posted to several newsgroups (except proper FAQs)<br />
* Articles posted as separate copies to many newsgroups ("spam")<br />
* Excessively long articles (more than ~200 lines or ~10K bytes)<br />
* Articles containing significantly more quoted than new content<br />
* Articles with no subject<br />
* Duplicate/rapidly reposted messages<br />
* Disruptive articles (articles that disrupt commonly-used newsreading systems, such as articles that contain scripts or hyper-links that exploit newsreading or web-browsing software problems, or that contain computer viruses)<br />
<br />
<br />
The newsgroup will be moderated by a Moderation Board, consisting of a Head Moderator and a pool of Backup Moderators. The moderation process will be overseen by the Head Moderator. The Head Moderator may delegate responsibilities and authority to any of the Backup Moderators as the need arises. The Head Moderator may also withdraw such delegation and/or reassign it to another Backup Moderator. Only members of the Moderation Board have the power to judge posts.<br />
<br />
The current moderation procedures and policies will be described in an Administrative Statement, which will be maintained by the Head Moderator, with any changes subject to veto by the Board. The Statement will be posted to the group whenever it changes, and at least once per month. It will be available at all times at an address posted regularly in the group.<br />
<br />
All posts to the group may be processed through moderation software which will take one of the following actions on each article:<br />
<br />
# Reject it outright if it meets certain criteria;<br />
# Forward it to a Board member if it meets certain other criteria; or<br />
# Post it immediately.<br />
<br />
<br />
The criteria being used by either the moderation software or human moderators will be described in the Administrative Statement. They will not refer to the source of the articles except that the Head Moderator, or another moderator designated by the Head Moderator, may place certain individuals or sites which repeatedly try to post off-topic material on a "watch list," which will cause their articles to be forwarded to a human moderator for review. The Head Moderator may also declare certain off-topic discussion threads to be "closed," so that no more articles in that thread will be accepted.<br />
<br />
Rejected articles will, if possible, be returned to the sender along with a letter of explanation. If a sender repeatedly ignores the return of an inappropriate posting, or cannot be notified because of an invalid address, and continues to try to re-post the same (or substantially the same) material, the Head Moderator may configure the moderation software to automatically discard all postings of that type from that sender, without attempting to return them. Since his actions are subject to veto by the Board membership, the Head Moderator must notify the other Board members of any such action.<br />
<br />
Rejected articles may be appealed to an address specified in the Administrative Statement and in any letter of rejection. If an article was rejected by a human moderator, the appeal will be judged by a different moderator. In the event of abuse of the appeals process, the Moderation Board will decide what action will be taken to deal with the abuse.<br />
<br />
An article will normally be subject to rejection only at the time it is submitted. Canceling of articles after they have been posted ("retromoderation") will not be used for general content control. Cancellations will be permitted only under the following special circumstances:<br />
<br />
# When performed or requested by the original poster or by his/ her Internet Service Provider;<br />
# When performed by the Head Moderator, or another moderator designated by the Head Moderator, to cancel articles with forged approvals;<br />
# When performed by the Head Moderator, or another moderator designated by the Head Moderator, to cancel disruptive articles as described above under "These posts may be rejected regardless of their topic:"; or<br />
# When performed by reputable third-party cancelers (as determined by the Head Moderator), to cancel articles that are widely considered to be undesirable in most of Usenet, e.g. binaries and excessively multiposted articles ("spam").<br />
<br />
<br />
In addition to rejecting inappropriate articles, the moderators may take measures to discourage users from submitting such articles in the first place, including:<br />
<br />
# Appending short "footers" to all posted articles, informing newcomers of the purpose of the newsgroup and providing references to more detailed information about the newsgroup, the Usenet community, and the Internet in general; and<br />
# E-mailing "welcome" messages to all first-time posters, containing similar information as in (1).<br />
<br />
<br />
Other than appending a footer or adding headers, the moderators will not modify the content of a posted article.<br />
<br />
The Head Moderator will submit a report to the Moderation Board at least every three months, providing statistics on the number of articles processed and their disposal. He will inform the Moderation Board of any appeals of rejected articles, and their disposition, as they occur. He will also inform the Moderation Board of any substantive changes to the moderation software. The Board may instruct the Head Moderator to eliminate any automatic rejection or forwarding criterion from the moderation software.<br />
<br />
The Board may elect a new Head Moderator if the position becomes vacant; the Head Moderator or the Board may appoint a Backup Moderator to fill in for the Head Moderator during short periods of absence.<br />
<br />
The Board also has the power to remove a Head Moderator. It may remove a Head Moderator who has been in office for less than six weeks through a simple majority vote of all members. A Head Moderator who has been in office for more than six weeks may only be removed by a 2/3 majority vote of those who have been on the Board for at least six weeks.<br />
<br />
The Board controls its own membership. It may admit new members with a simple majority vote, or remove members who have served for less than six weeks with a simple majority vote. Members who have served longer than six weeks may only be removed by a 2/3 vote of those who have been on the Board for at least six weeks. The Board will make a good-faith effort to maintain a membership of at least three persons.<br />
<br />
The working charter for the group may be modified by a 2/3 vote of those who have been members of the Moderation Board for at least six weeks. A copy of the current charter will be available at a location given in the Administrative Statement.<br />
<br />
END CHARTER.</div>Rayner Lucashttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-11-10Minutes/2023-11-102023-11-12T14:35:06Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** The new moderator, Bixby, reports that he is almost done writing his own moderation software and has already updated the group's submission address with the ISC. ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}} *** RL has received the latest FAQs from Kathy Morgan. These need to be updated. ** {{news|comp.os.linux.announce}} *** A user reported to TM that a post..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** The new moderator, Bixby, reports that he is almost done writing his own moderation software and has already updated the group's submission address with the ISC.<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL has received the latest FAQs from Kathy Morgan. These need to be updated.<br />
** {{news|comp.os.linux.announce}}<br />
*** A user reported to TM that a post submitted via Google Groups didn't show up after several days. TM to investigate.<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** TM still to prepare a final MVI for posting this month.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** Work still in progress by RL.<br />
* (Web)STUMP<br />
** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah<br />
* Publicity<br />
* Misc<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-11-03Minutes/2023-11-032023-11-03T15:18:16Z<p>Tristan Miller: </p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}<br />
*** RL has produced working procmail recipes for {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and will do the same for {{news|news.announce.newusers}}.<br />
*** RL has suggested obtaining the latest version of the FAQs that were periodically posted to these groups so that we can continue to post them ourselves. Agreed that RL would check with Kathy Morgan what the latest versions are.<br />
** {{news|rec.radio.broadcasting}}<br />
*** Agreed that TM would prepare a final MVI for posting this month.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server<br />
*** TM has added SpamAssassin whitelist rules for our most frequent correspondents, including the STUMP instances.<br />
*** RL to upgrade the mail server software.<br />
* (Web)STUMP<br />
** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah<br />
* Publicity<br />
* Misc<br />
** RL has updated the .newsrc file in our wiki with the latest changes from PS.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-10-27Minutes/2023-10-272023-11-03T14:18:40Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}: No further updates. * Infrastructure ** Mail server. RL fixed SSL certificate, but did not yet upgrade mail-in-a-box. TM to add SpamAssassin whitelist rules. * (Web)STUMP ** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah * Publicity ** LibrePlanet 2024: Deadline for session proposals extended to 17 November. * Misc ** PS has sent updates to the sample .newsrc file. RL..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}: No further updates.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server. RL fixed SSL certificate, but did not yet upgrade mail-in-a-box. TM to add SpamAssassin whitelist rules.<br />
* (Web)STUMP<br />
** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah<br />
* Publicity<br />
** LibrePlanet 2024: Deadline for session proposals extended to 17 November.<br />
* Misc<br />
** PS has sent updates to the sample .newsrc file. RL to update our wiki accordingly.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Millerhttps://www.big-8.org/wiki/Minutes/2023-10-20Minutes/2023-10-202023-10-27T13:53:21Z<p>Tristan Miller: Created page with "* Administration ** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}} *** The prospective moderator, Bixby, has indicated to the Board that he will be writing his own moderation software. ** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}: No further updates. * Infrastructure ** Mail server SSL certificate: No further updates. * (Web)STUMP ** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah * Publicity ** LibrePlanet 2024: No p..."</p>
<hr />
<div>* Administration<br />
** Moderator volunteer for {{news|soc.history.war.world-war-ii}}<br />
*** The prospective moderator, Bixby, has indicated to the Board that he will be writing his own moderation software.<br />
** {{news|news.newusers.questions}} and {{news|news.announce.newusers}}: No further updates.<br />
* Infrastructure<br />
** Mail server SSL certificate: No further updates.<br />
* (Web)STUMP<br />
** TM: No update yet on GPG signing best practices on Savannah<br />
* Publicity<br />
** LibrePlanet 2024: No progress yet but the Board will continue to consider ideas for a session proposal, for which the deadline is 25 October.<br />
** The Board is mentioned in "[https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/internet/usenet-news-information/ USENET: All the news that’s fit]", an article by Mark Pesce published in ''Cosmos Magazine'' on 23 September 2023.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Meeting minutes for 2023]]</div>Tristan Miller