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| 5/24 |
| 2008/12/18-2009/1/7 [Computer/SW/Mail] UID:52279 Activity:nil |
12/18 Campus USENET service will be terminated on 12/31.
http://ls.berkeley.edu/mail/micronet/2008/1608.html
\_ I emailed RobR to tell him. -ausman
\_ The CSUA is considering asking campus to allow us to run NNTP for
ucb.class.*, as bSpace sucks major major ass. Thoughts? --t
\_ That's noble, but maybe the effort would be better spent
writing a web-based bulletin board that doesn't suck?
\_ Big difference in outlay of effort IMO. No. --t
\_ You should do this, if you have the inclination.
\_ I just emailed Michael Sinatra, the person who sent the
reminder. Who else should I email? --t
\_ Surely you can come up with something better than NNTP and
Usenet, even if bSpace isn't it. -tom
\_ Seconded. Get on with the Web 2.0 bandwagon and forget about
gopher, mozilla 0.1, and nntp usenet. It's like people in the
70s trying to design a computer using tubes all over again.
The world move forward. -kchang
\_ Sarcasm, I hope. Web 2.0 the marketing strategy is a sham.
Web 2.0 the technology (AJAX, etc.), OTOH, I can sort of get
behind. --t
Web 2.0 the technology (AJAX, etc.), OTOH, I can sort of
get behind. --t
\_ But what's wrong with USENET/NNTP? It's served the classes
wonderfully, isn't broken, and there are plenty of programs
that *others* maintain. In fact, this is exactly why bSpace's
attempt at web-based bulletin board sucks so hard. I can't run
a desktop client/script to check bSpace forum messages, and a
replacement of sufficient complexity, similarity, and
portability would essentially be reimplementing NNTP, badly and
haphazardly in such a way that few classes would care to use,
as it would not be integrated into their system as bSpace is.
Sorry alumni, replacing a shitty new system with a shitty newer
system is a shitty idea. --t
portability would essentially be reimplementing NNTP, badly
and haphazardly in such a way that few classes would care to
use, as it would not be integrated into their system as
bSpace is. Sorry alumni, replacing a shitty new system with
a shitty newer system is a shitty idea. --t
\_ What's wrong with USENET is that the distribution mechanism
sucks and the signal to noise ratio is effectively zero.
That doesn't matter so much for ucb.class.*, but then you
get into the fact that the interface sucks, too. What
percentage of students in the relevant classes do you
think actually pay attention to ucb.class.*? -tom
\_ I'd say 80% or more in the classes that use it. No lie.
There's a very *low* amount of noise. The CS188 amd CS61C
classes typically run into the several thousand posts.--t
There's a very *low* amount of noise. The CS188 amd
CS61C classes typically run into the several thousand
posts.--t
\_ How much do you know about USENET? Groups like ucb.class.*
don't really have a home or a host. Several non-Berkeley NNTP
servers propagate the ucb.* hierarchy, although most do not.
All you need is access to a free USENET server that accepts
these groups. While there is value in CSUA running such a server,
ucb.* isn't dead without it. More important is official buy-in.
If the teaching staff for a class doesn't promote the newsgroups,
they won't get used, regardless of how they're supported.
It might be worth asking CNS (or whoever) if they can provide
you with any data on usage of the ucb.* groups.
\_ I'm pretty sure teaching staff will go along with NNTP if
there's someone supporting it. There are peripheral
benefits, such as being able to legitimately plug the CSUA
in all of the CS classes with active newsgroups. --t
\_ No more alt.stories.* on soda. One fewer reason to log on.
\_ alt.stories.*? I do not know of what you speak. Explain? --t
\_ I think he means alt.sex.stories.
\_ I am all for more reasons for http://soda.csua.berkeley.edu to exist.
Undergrads, PLEASE host NNTP for ucb.eecs! ok tnx.
\_ God damn, one of the main reason I log on to csua is to
browse the news group. Call me old fashioned but I still
like the tin interface better than anything else. This is
sad. |
| 5/24 |
|
| ls.berkeley.edu/mail/micronet/2008/1608.html edu> Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:37:10 -0800 Hi: This is a reminder that the campus USENET service will be terminated on (or shortly after) December 31, 2008. If you have already read the message, you may want to re-read it for entertainment/insomnia-mitigating purposes. edu> Hi, As a preface for this email, please note that I was hired by then Communication and Network Services 9 years ago to manage the USENET service. It is therefore with mixed feelings that I announce its proposed abatement on December 31, 2008. Over the last several years, usage of USENET has been sharply reduced, both on campus and in the general Internet. Many Universities similar to UCB have retired their USENET services, including such former USENET stalwarts as the Univeristy of Oregon, University of Michigan, and most recently, the University of Washington. Perhaps most tellingly, Duke University, one of the inventors of USENET, is in the process of abating its service. I have already been in discussions with the EECS Instructional group about alternatives, such as bSpace. As readership has declined and alternatives have become available, the resources devoted to USENET administration have necessarily declined. The hardware running the service is getting old, especially for a service that requires constant disk activity. A complete hardware refresh of the current system, including labor and materials, would cost well into the 5-figure range, and ongoing maintenance costs would have to be factored in. Given current readership load, it is not fiscally smart to move ahead with a refresh. In addition, recent actions by state attorneys general, most notably in New York, have prompted a number of large ISPs to shut down their USENET services due to concerns over child pornography/exploitation-related postings. The California Attorney General has also asked ISPs and entities doing business in California to follow similar rules. Although it is possible to run a USENET service while taking steps to prevent such illegal postings, it presents additional costs for running the service. At UCB, we will continue to operate the USENET service on a best effort basis until December 31, 2008. No abatement date is ever really set in stone, but I would like to shut down the system at some time very close to that date. There will be some minor maintenance done to the system in the coming weeks to ensure that it can reliably work through the semester. USENET is one of the oldest protocols on the Internet, predating the development of the Internet Protocol. Ironically, AOL was one of the first major service providers to abandon USENET, in 2005. It's not easy to say goodbye to a venerable institution, but it is unfortunately time that we did so. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. edu Messages you send to this mailing list are public and world-viewable, and the list's archives can be browsed and searched on the Internet. This means these messages can be viewed by (among others) your bosses, prospective employers, and people who have known you in the past. |
| soda.csua.berkeley.edu -> soda.csua.berkeley.edu/ Computer Science Undergraduate Association The Computer Science Undergraduate Association is dedicated to representing the undergraduate Computer Science student body and associates to the University of California at Berkeley , its representatives, and other related organizations; Announcements: Are you a current Berkeley undergrad interested in EE or CS? Every spring, student groups give a presentation to the EECS faculty on pressing issues in the EECS program. Please fill out this quick survey to make sure your opinions are heard. CSUA t-shirts are now available in the office 343 Soda for $12 each. The CSUA Mentoring Program is calling for new students to sign up to be mentored. Register to find out more information about this free program at the mentoring website . Members interested in mentoring should contact jhs as soon as possible. CSUA Officer Meetings: Politburo meetings for Spring 2004 are scheduled for every Monday at 6pm in 337 Soda Hall. |