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alt.discuss.config - What is it's importance?

news:alt.discuss.config is where all the discussion about a proposal happens. The tag-line states "Discussion on the structure of the alt.discuss hierarchy."

The actual proposal process is automated, but the NAMING of the group is extremely important, as is an understanding of the hierarchy, the How of getting votes, the questions and answers that are involved with a newsgroup proposal.

Your group will automatically be pre-proposed in alt.discuss.config (starting next week).   You will receive feedback about your choice of name, the info in the charter, etc.

The reasons for the pre-proposal are multiple:           1)   To check the name chosen against the Main Topic List. Groups pass almost daily and a new Main Topic that would be perfect for your proposal may have just been created. The "regulars" in a.d.config are aware of newly created groups, know if any similar proposals to yours are being voted on, and give suggestions for proper placement of your proposed group within the hierarchy of alt.discuss.           2) To check to see if you are proposing an unnecessary group within a particular category (ie: at this point there are over a dozen HTML groups and almost a dozen wrestling groups) and if so, to suggest which groups might already be in existence and filling the need of the one you are proposing.           3) The people in .config will make suggestions relating to your Charter (for info on Charter writing go to https://groups.tripod.com/ad/charter1.html ) They will help to clear up any misunderstandings you might have about what can and cannot be "law" for the group (ie: you cannot claim a "child friendly" group as alt.discuss is an Adult Forum).         4) As the "discussion" part of a pre-proposal happens, you will be able to revise your Charter and/or change the name of the group you are proposing. There will be no Charter revisions after the pre-proposal stage.

The regulars in config give SUGGESTIONS, they don't demand anything. The proposer has free will, and those in config will never try to usurp that. Within news:alt.discuss.config you can see the Daily Vote Status List which is posted by "nobody" every morning at about 1:00 AM Pacific Time. In this list are the vote totals for each officially made proposal.

You will also find the link to the site containing the Newsgroup Creation Rules, the Voting Page, the Proposal form, etc. in the Vote Status post. <>alt.discuss.config is where posts proving vote fraud are posted. It is also the ONLY group that nobody@vote.munitions.com ever checks into, to see what's happening and if everything is running smoothly.

What About That Other Group With The Silly Name?

    news:alt.discuss.config.newtons was created to be a valve for a.d.config. When posts start to go off-topic, or disagreements get too hot in a.d.config, it is the norm to "take it to newtons" and continue the discussion over there. That leaves alt.discuss.config as free as possible so that the most important posts are seen (the pre-proposals, proposals, Daily Stats, suggestions, etc.) without being buried. Does it always work? No, but it does take some of the pressure off, and it does help to keep some of the off-topic posts elsewhere.

So, What Is The Group news:alt.discuss?

news:alt.discuss is a moderated group in which only "Nobody" (who makes sure the automated system is working) posts. It contains all the "official" posts: daily status, proposals, the creation of groups, the deletion of groups, changes to the voting/proposing system, etc. It is sometimes easier to scroll through there than .config to find official information.

NOTE:
As of May 5th, 2000, the moderated newsgroup, news:alt.discuss, has been removed. A new group has been created to replace it. Go to news:alt.discuss.config.announce to find all the "official" posts and information.

Config is the heart of alt.discuss. It's worth reading a few pages of. Config has been around long before I was, and will remain (as long as we still have the alt.discuss newsgroups) way after I am gone.

Robin