How Alt Newsgroups Work

Alt groups are a special category of groups of international interest. The hierarchy is unmanaged. That means no one is in charge of approving new groups. The proponent sends the control message himself to add it to a list of valid Usenet groups at isc.org. ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/CONFIG/newsgroups This list is what most ISPs look at when they get a request to add a copy of the group to their news server. It assures that everyone is spelling the name correctly. If one server adds alt.music.xyz and others alt.music.x.y.z or alt.music.x-y-z, posts cannot be exchanged between those servers.

THE CONTROL MESSAGE DOES NOT CREATE A GROUP ON ANY SERVERS.

Except for a very few add-anything servers, users must request alt groups on the servers they use.

ALT.CONFIG DOES NOT APPROVE NEW GROUPS.

Only a news admin can add a group, and only for the server he manages. Alt.config provides advice from users who have been involved in the making of Usenet groups for many years. The proponent can take the advice or ignore it. Alt groups are do-it-yourself.

ALT.CONFIG DOES NOT SEND CONTROL MESSAGES.

In some cases individuals in alt.config may offer to send a cmsg for a good proposal. The proponent should make sure that it is his charter and that his name is listed as proponent. The only thing that should be different is the line: Sender: (email address of sender if different from proponent}

JUSTIFICATION MEANS HOW POPULAR IS THE TOPIC ON USENET NOW.

Do a Google search for posts over the last three months that discuss the topic directly. The proponent would like to show administrators how many of their users are likely to be interested in the group. However the main purpose is to show the proponent himself whether he is wasting his time with a group unlikely to make it to many servers. How popular the topic is in real life or on the web has no bearing on Usenet use. People using email lists or the web are frequently unfamiliar with Usenet or do not want to switch. If the proponent relies on web or email traffic to support a group, the group is likely to die before it is born and remain only a name on the ISC list.

THE PROPONENT MUST PROMOTE THE GROUP.

The proponent is responsible for seeing that the group is added to servers. He must request the group from the providers he subscribes to, and he must advertise the group to other users and ask them to request the group on the servers they use (and tell them how to reach their news administrator). Almost no administrators will add an alt group until it is requested by a subscriber. Without multiple copies of the group on many servers {propagation), the group will die for lack of users.

THE PROPONENT MUST NURSE THE GROUP UNTIL IT PROPAGATES.

The proponent must be prepared to nurse the group for at least six months or until the traffic becomes self-sustaining.It means searching out the users who are discussing the topic in other groups and asking them if they want and would use a new group. It means constant posting of interesting material to the new group. Users who do ask for the group and find it empty or boring will not return. At that point the group becomes a spam trap on the servers who have added it. This frequently happens to topics of short-term interest or one-note joke groups.

BarB

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If your computer is set up to see newsgroups: visit alt.config and see what goes on there.