Great Renaming: Difference between revisions
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The '''Great Renaming''' was a restructuring of [[Usenet newsgroup]]s that took place in 1987. |
The '''Great Renaming''' was a restructuring of [[Usenet newsgroup]]s that took place in 1987. [[B News]] maintainer and [[UUNET]] founder [[Rick Adams (Internet pioneer)|Rick Adams]] is generally considered to be the initiator of the Renaming. |
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=Motivation= |
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The primary reason was said to be the difficulty of maintaining a list of all the existing groups.<ref>[http://livinginternet.com/u/ui_modern.htm Modern Usenet Newsgroup Hierarchies History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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An alternative explanation was that [[Europe]]an networks refused to pay for some of the discussion-intensive groups regarding [[religion]] and [[racism]]; this resulted in a need for categorization of all such newsgroups.<ref>http://www.vrx.net/usenet/history/hardy/ {{Dead link|date=May 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www-cse.stanford.edu/classes/cs201/projects-98-99/controlling-the-virtual-world/history/rename.html Controlling the Virtual World<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The suggested category for the newsgroups less popular among European networks was ''talk.*'' |
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=History= |
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==Pre-Renaming== |
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Before the Renaming, the newsgroups were categorized into three hierarchies: ''fa.*'' for groups gatewayed from [[ARPANET]], ''mod.*'' for [[moderation system|moderated]] discussions, and ''net.*'' for unmoderated groups. Names of the groups were said to be rather haphazard.<ref>[http://www.linux.it/~md/usenet/gr.html The Great Renaming FAQ]</ref> |
Before the Renaming, the newsgroups were categorized into three hierarchies: ''fa.*'' for groups gatewayed from [[ARPANET]], ''mod.*'' for [[moderation system|moderated]] discussions, and ''net.*'' for unmoderated groups. Names of the groups were said to be rather haphazard.<ref>[http://www.linux.it/~md/usenet/gr.html The Great Renaming FAQ]</ref> |
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While reorganization discussions had taken place earlier, software limitations prevented the adoption of a consistent organization scheme. Improvements introduced by Adams in 1986 with [[B News]] version 2.11 removed the requirement for moderated groups to use the "mod." prefix, allowed posting to moderated groups using [[News client|newsreader]]s rather than separate [[e-mail]] programs, and eliminated the flat storage method, which required that the first 14 characters of all newsgroups be unique. With this added flexibility and transparency, it became practical to undertake the effort. |
While reorganization discussions had taken place earlier, software limitations prevented the adoption of a consistent organization scheme. Improvements introduced by Adams in 1986 with [[B News]] version 2.11 removed the requirement for moderated groups to use the "mod." prefix, allowed posting to moderated groups using [[News client|newsreader]]s rather than separate [[e-mail]] programs, and eliminated the flat storage method, which required that the first 14 characters of all newsgroups be unique. With this added flexibility and transparency, it became practical to undertake the effort. |
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==Renaming== |
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The backbone providers, "the [[backbone cabal]]," were instrumental in this reorganization of Usenet since they had a great influence with respect to supporting a new newsgroup. Some suggest that members of the cabal had interests in bundling certain newsgroups into the ''talk.*'' hierarchy, so that they would not be objected to by their supervisors.<ref>[http://livinginternet.com/u/ui_modern.htm Modern Usenet Newsgroup Hierarchies History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
The backbone providers, "the [[backbone cabal]]," were instrumental in this reorganization of Usenet since they had a great influence with respect to supporting a new newsgroup. Some suggest that members of the cabal had interests in bundling certain newsgroups into the ''talk.*'' hierarchy, so that they would not be objected to by their supervisors.<ref>[http://livinginternet.com/u/ui_modern.htm Modern Usenet Newsgroup Hierarchies History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> |
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These newsgroups were categorized into a series of [[hierarchy|hierarchies]], to make it easier for newsgroups to be created and distributed. The original hierarchies were '''''comp.*''''', '''''misc.*''''', '''''news.*''''', '''''rec.*''''', '''''sci.*''''', '''''soc.*''''', and '''''talk.*'''''. |
These newsgroups were categorized into a series of [[hierarchy|hierarchies]], to make it easier for newsgroups to be created and distributed. The original hierarchies were '''''comp.*''''', '''''misc.*''''', '''''news.*''''', '''''rec.*''''', '''''sci.*''''', '''''soc.*''''', and '''''talk.*'''''. |
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Several other popular hierarchies remained on Usenet as well, such as the '''''k12.*''''' hierarchy, which covers topics especially relating to [[education]], [[school]]s, and [[college]]s. |
Several other popular hierarchies remained on Usenet as well, such as the '''''k12.*''''' hierarchy, which covers topics especially relating to [[education]], [[school]]s, and [[college]]s. |
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==Post-Renaming== |
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An additional hierarchy, '''''[[Alt.* hierarchy|alt.*]]''''', was also created shortly after the Renaming. The term ''alt'' is short for "alternative". The ''alt.*'' hierarchy was meant to be completely free from centralized control, and it was not subject to the formalities of the Big Seven. |
An additional hierarchy, '''''[[Alt.* hierarchy|alt.*]]''''', was also created shortly after the Renaming. The term ''alt'' is short for "alternative". The ''alt.*'' hierarchy was meant to be completely free from centralized control, and it was not subject to the formalities of the Big Seven. |
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In the mid-1990s, when the Usenet traffic grew significantly, one more hierarchy, '''''humanities.*''''', was introduced, and with the seven hierarchies created by the Renaming, comprises today's so-called "[[Big 8 (Usenet)|Big 8]]." |
In the mid-1990s, when the Usenet traffic grew significantly, one more hierarchy, '''''humanities.*''''', was introduced, and with the seven hierarchies created by the Renaming, comprises today's so-called "[[Big 8 (Usenet)|Big 8]]." |
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=See Also= |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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Revision as of 22:27, 15 June 2008
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The Great Renaming was a restructuring of Usenet newsgroups that took place in 1987. B News maintainer and UUNET founder Rick Adams is generally considered to be the initiator of the Renaming.
Motivation
The primary reason was said to be the difficulty of maintaining a list of all the existing groups.[1]
An alternative explanation was that European networks refused to pay for some of the discussion-intensive groups regarding religion and racism; this resulted in a need for categorization of all such newsgroups.[2][3] The suggested category for the newsgroups less popular among European networks was talk.*
History
Pre-Renaming
Before the Renaming, the newsgroups were categorized into three hierarchies: fa.* for groups gatewayed from ARPANET, mod.* for moderated discussions, and net.* for unmoderated groups. Names of the groups were said to be rather haphazard.[4]
While reorganization discussions had taken place earlier, software limitations prevented the adoption of a consistent organization scheme. Improvements introduced by Adams in 1986 with B News version 2.11 removed the requirement for moderated groups to use the "mod." prefix, allowed posting to moderated groups using newsreaders rather than separate e-mail programs, and eliminated the flat storage method, which required that the first 14 characters of all newsgroups be unique. With this added flexibility and transparency, it became practical to undertake the effort.
Renaming
The backbone providers, "the backbone cabal," were instrumental in this reorganization of Usenet since they had a great influence with respect to supporting a new newsgroup. Some suggest that members of the cabal had interests in bundling certain newsgroups into the talk.* hierarchy, so that they would not be objected to by their supervisors.[5]
These newsgroups were categorized into a series of hierarchies, to make it easier for newsgroups to be created and distributed. The original hierarchies were comp.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, and talk.*.
These hierarchies, known collectively as the "Big Seven," were open and free for anyone to participate in (except for the moderated newsgroups), though they were subject to a few general rules governing their naming and distribution.
Several other popular hierarchies remained on Usenet as well, such as the k12.* hierarchy, which covers topics especially relating to education, schools, and colleges.
Post-Renaming
An additional hierarchy, alt.*, was also created shortly after the Renaming. The term alt is short for "alternative". The alt.* hierarchy was meant to be completely free from centralized control, and it was not subject to the formalities of the Big Seven.
In the mid-1990s, when the Usenet traffic grew significantly, one more hierarchy, humanities.*, was introduced, and with the seven hierarchies created by the Renaming, comprises today's so-called "Big 8."
See Also
A more detailed account of reasons behind the Renaming can also be seen in a Usenet article[6] posted by Gene Spafford at net.news and net.news.group.